Alive and Well
by jm1681
Summary: Anna wakes up in the middle of the fire to find she is still very much alive. Katherine's presence threatens to disrupt the Mystic Falls status quo even further. Anna/Jeremy, Elena/Stefan, Damon/... Please Review.
1. Chapter 1

_Hello Vampire Diaries archive :)_

_So this is my first attempt at a Vamp Diaries fic. I had been trying to avoid writing for this series for a while, and I couldn't figure out why; then I started writing this. I only started watching at about the mid-point of the season, so I couldn't do as much as I would have liked to with this, but I think I did...ok._

_I was basically unable to deal with Anna's death in the finale and so, what we have here was more for the sake of my sanity than anything else. On that note, please go easy on me ;)_

_Without further ado, I don't own TVD ;)_

* * *

**Alive and Well**

She shouldn't have felt the pain of the stake that resided in her chest. It should have simply brought an end to her existence, just as the flames that danced about her flesh should have. But she _did_ feel the stake. She _did_ feel her skin boiling as the fire ravaged her. As a consciousness flowed back into her veins, Annabelle weakly pushed herself upright through the blaze. The very flames that had caused the horrendous blisters on her skin extinguished before her eyes, and pain she'd never known coursed through her as the half-burnt stake seemed to eject itself from her chest. She choked through her agonizing cries and slowly at first, then rapidly, her skin healed to its natural state and color.

She had no idea how, but she was not only alive, but in perfect physical condition. Completely engulfed in her thoughts, she was brought back to reality by the sudden crackling of the floor above her. In an instant, she was on her feet, and before the weakened structure could crash down on her, she was up the smoldering staircase and through the side entrance to Gilbert's building.

Free of the flames that consumed the building, Anna stood in the alley to collect herself for a moment. She raised her hands to her view, examining them for burns, yet no such evidence presented. Her fingertips delicately passed over her face, which was also free from burns. Over and over she wondered, _"How is this possible?"_ Adding to the confusion was the matter of the vervein injection; its effects had vanished in seconds, leaving her invigorated. It was as though she came out of that basement as clean as the day she was born child.

Through all of the thoughts and mysteries over the past five minutes, the image of the man who had killed her mother, and taken such satisfaction in his attempt to kill her, came to her. Her hunger for Jonathan Gilbert's blood appeared on her face, as did a look of pure rage. A slight growl emanated from her lips, and with no further care or concern for how she had come to rejoin the living, she headed to the one place she knew she would find her enemy.

As she proceeded to Jeremy and Elena Gilbert's home, her pace slowed for a moment. Just as she had been overcome with rage, a calm poured over her as Jeremy reentered her mind; his face, his touch, his affection for her. If only he had allowed her to turn him earlier, they could have left Mystic Falls hours ago, none of this ever would have happened. She quickly shook the thought from her mind. This was the furthest thing from Jeremy's fault, and as she closed in on his home, she was once again focused on her ultimate goal, regardless of the ripples it might have caused; kill Jonathan Gilbert.

Just as her feet touched the rear patio of the Gilbert's home, another vampire fled at a surreal pace, even for Anna. It wasn't Stefan or Damon; that much she could tell simply by observing the creature's proportions. Now on alert, she carefully proceeded up the steps and into the kitchen. On the floor of the kitchen, not more than six feet from her, the man who had killed her mother and attempted to kill her, lay dying. The fingers on his right hand severed, and a mortal wound to his abdomen. She slowly walked over to him, his terror stricken eyes following every step she took.

He struggled to create words through his internal injuries, "A…n…na?"

She knelt just a few inches away from the odious man who lay dying before her. She made no attempt to help him, nor did she make any attempt to drink from him. She didn't smile, nor frown; she merely watched as he died. Listening carefully to the pulse of his heart, she asked within a few moments of its final beats, "Who did this to you?"

"How…are you…alive?" he asked.

"Answer me," she demanded.

His head began to drop to one side as he weakly replied, "Katherine…" and just like that, Jonathan Gilbert was gone.

Having gotten lost in her moment of vengeance, the front door slammed closed, startling her. She shifted and bumped into the center island in the kitchen, knocking a knife to the ground.

"Jeremy?" Elena called from the hallway as she approached the kitchen.

She knew Elena would absolutely blame Jon's death on her. She could have been out the rear door before Elena ever saw her, yet she stood fast. As Elena rounded the corner of the kitchen, the blood on the island was the first thing she saw. Next was Anna, standing and staring right back at her. Finally, there was Elena's unfortunate father, dead on the floor.

Any other day, Elena could barely stand the sight of him. The very thought that she was of the same flesh as him made her skin crawl. However, as he lay dead just a few feet before her, she completely lost it, and as predicted, she went straight for Anna.

Elena's voice was full of anger as she spoke, "What did you do?"

"I didn't do this," Anna calmly defended.

Now awash in tears, Elena again spoke, "And I'm supposed to believe that?" Acting on pure impulse, Elena quickly grabbed a knife from the island in hopes she would at most shed Anna's blood, and at least, put up a fight before she was drunk dry. At the sight of her retrieving a weapon, Anna moved at a blinding pace and forced a hand to Elena's throat, pinning her against the wall behind her.

While she had her in her grasp, hurting Elena was not Anna's intention. Instead, she spoke the language she knew would get through to the young girl, "Listen to me, Katherine is back…" Elena's eyes doubled in size as Anna continued, "…she's the one that did this, and believe me, she is a problem you don't want to deal with on your own."

Having made her point, Anna relinquished her grip on Elena. She walked passed her towards the stairs, and Elena turned, never leaving her back exposed to the vampire that had entranced her brother. As Anna's hand wrapped the newel post, Elena managed to break her only thought from her lips, "Katherine's back?"

As her foot touched the first step, Anna replied, "We'll go for Damon and Stefan in a minute. Your uncle--"

"He was my father!" Elena shouted.

At hearing that Jonathan was Elena's father, Anna stopped in her tracks. She remembered how hurt she was to find her mother slain, even if it was by the bastard Elena now mourned. She took a step back and into the hall so that she may look Elena in the eye as she spoke, "I'm sorry."

Elena smiled sarcastically through her tears, "I'm sure you are."

Anna took a few steps closer to her and asked, "Your father believed that all vampires should be destroyed. Do you agree with him?"

"Of course not, I--"

"He killed my mother," Anna interrupted. Elena was again stuck as she absorbed Anna's words, "He killed my mother, he tried to kill Damon, and tonight he succeeded in killing me," Anna replied.

Now confused even further, Elena asked, "Wait he killed you? Then--"

"Don't mistake my point, Elena. I understand your pain and I'm sorry for _your_ loss. But if Katherine hadn't done what she did tonight, I still would have."

It was terrifying how simple it was for Elena to completely understand Anna's plight. Lucky for her, years of pent up hatred for her would-be father made it all-to easy for her. She nodded and quietly asked, her tears still steadily flowing, "So what do I do?"

Anna again proceeded to the stairs as she replied, "Someone broke in, and this is how you found things."

"Where are you going?" Elena asked.

Anna smiled slightly and looked back to Elena, "I died tonight. At least let me kiss my boyfriend goodnight."

"You don't mean…"

Anna looked to her, than to the upstairs. She smiled slightly as she replied, "If he asked me to."

"Only if he asked?"

"I love him, Elena," Anna replied warmly. "Nothing would make me happier than for us to be young and in love forever, but I'm not going to turn him against his wishes."

Elena nodded and turned towards the kitchen while Anna continued up the stairs to Jeremy's room. Jeremy lay on his bed, his eyes now closed, whether by sleep or by the overdose that flowed in his veins was anyone's guess. A gentle gust of air blew his hair off of his face, and when his eyes opened, she was beside him. He smiled weakly as he asked, "Am I dreaming?" Anna shook her head 'no' and again Jeremy spoke, "Damon told me you were killed."

Her eyes averted slightly as she replied, "I was." It was in that moment it dawned on her that Jeremy had no idea his uncle had been killed. "Jeremy--"

"I drank the blood you gave me," he weakly interrupted.

"What?" Anna asked.

"He said I could turn the pain off, but now I don't have to."

His eyes closed and Anna immediately panicked as she asked, "Jeremy?" She reached down to him and gave him a gentle shake to try and wake him up. His eyes cracked open and again she begged, "No Jeremy, no; not like this…"

He offered no response and the broken child in her crept to the surface. Tears ran from her eyes as she again reached down and shook him, "Jeremy?" She quickly collected herself and pressed her fingers to his throat; his pulse was weak but he was alive. Stronger than she'd ever let on; Anna collected Jeremy's form from his bed and draped him over her shoulder. She quickly made her way downstairs to find Elena just rounding a corner after having made the call. At the sight of Jeremy in her arms, Elena immediately rushed to Anna and asked, "What happened?"

"No time for that, we need to get him to a hospital right now," Anna replied.

Without a thought, Elena grabbed Jenna's keys and they rushed out to the car.

* * *

Damon crossed the threshold into his brother's home, and immediately his eyes locked with Stefan.

"Hey," Stefan offered. He knew the likelihood of an argument would be rather low this evening as they had both been through quite a bit.

"Hey," Damon replied simply as he walked further into the home. He was in endless thought of the spectacular kiss he had shared with Elena, and while he truly savored tormenting his brother, his guilt over what he had done consumed him. If only he had known that his conscience was clear.

Taking note of Damon's unusual silence and anti-typical brooding demeanor, Stefan asked, "You okay?"

He looked about for a moment before speaking. He had been coming clean with everyone this evening, why should his brother be any different, "Stefan--"

Lucky for him, he was interrupted by the ringing of Stefan's phone, "Hello?"

"_Katherine's back,"_ Elena barked into her phone.

Stefan's face paled even further at her words. Having heard her from across the room, Damon's head perked up and his vision scattered about the room as he put together what had actually happened tonight.

"_She's back and…" _tears ran down her cheeks as she continued,_ "…she killed my father, she killed Jon."_

"Elena--"

"_We're on our way to the hospital," _Elena interrupted.

"I thought you said--"

"_Not for him, for Jeremy,"_ Elena again interrupted.

From across the room, Damon was snapped out of his thoughts by mention of Jeremy, "Wait, Jeremy? What happened to him?"

"_Please, can you meet me at the hospital?"_ Elena begged of Stefan.

"Yeah, we'll be right there," Stefan replied.

"Thanks." Elena checked the rearview mirror only to find Anna gently holding her brother. She looked back to the road and finished her thought, "I love you, Stefan." She hung up her phone and again looked back to Anna. Her eyes once again turned to the road and she asked, "How long have you two been--"

Anna interrupted with a slight smile, though she never took her eyes off of Jeremy's unconscious form, "Just a few days, but he'd say I've been stalking him for months."

"Stalking?" Elena asked.

Anna looked up to the mirror to look Elena in the eyes as she spoke, "It's a long story, Elena. I'm not proud of what I did and why. All you need to know is that I love him. I've been alive just as long as the Salvatore's, and in all these years, Jeremy is the first person that made me feel whole. I can't lose him now."

Elena upped the pace, now blatantly breaking the speed limit as she rushed them to the hospital.

* * *

Stefan slipped his coat on and filled Damon in as he approached the door, "Katherine's back and she killed John Gilbert."

"Oh yeah, how'd she manage that?" Damon asked as he followed his brother.

"She cut off his fingers and the ring went with them," Stefan replied.

"Yeah that sounds like her," Damon replied. "What happened to Jeremy?"

"Anna found him--"

Damon stopped them in their tracks and interrupted his brother, "Wait; Anna?"

"Yeah, why?" Stefan asked.

"Oh nothing," Damon replied nonchalantly. "Well except for the fact that I watched Jon Gilbert put a stake through her, _and_ she was already on fire when you came in to get me," Damon replied.

"Are you sure?"

"I might have had a double-dose of vervein in me but I know what I saw, Stefan," Damon replied.

Stefan pondered the scenario for a moment before focusing his thoughts, "Never mind the 'how', lets just get to the hospital. We can figure out what's going on with Anna later."

* * *

Stefan and Damon ran through the double doors of the emergency room to find Elena and Anna pacing the vacant waiting area. Immediately Elena perked up at the sight of Stefan and they ran towards each other, meeting in a tight hug. While Damon observed his brother and the woman he would never openly admit to being madly in love with, Anna slowly joined them. Still baffled as to how she was walking and talking, Damon offered her a nod and asked, "Is he alright?"

Elena pulled away from Stefan and explained, "They're pumping his stomach. The doctors said we got him here just in time."

Stefan sighed lightly in relief and replied, "Glad to hear it."

A brief silence fell on the room, and Damon would be the one to break it with his trademark wide-eyed grin, "So who saw this coming; three vampires in the ER worried about the life of one human."

Elena rolled her eyes while a doctor walked through the double doors into the lobby. "Elena Gilbert?" he asked, immediately grabbing both Anna and Elena's attention.

The doctor slowed as he came within a few inches of them and introduced himself, "I'm Doctor Mathias."

"Is he going to be alright?" Elena asked.

"We found a mild overdose of anti-depressants in his stomach. We flushed it out and we have him on fluids to keep him hydrated. Other than the pills however, we found something else that is making us scratch our heads," Mathias replied.

"What's that?" Stefan asked.

"We found just over an ounce of blood in his stomach."

"Blood?" Elena asked receiving a nod from the doctor. Damon and Stefan's gaze drifted to Anna while Elena again asked, "Is it something internal?

"As far as we can tell, he ingested it orally."

Looking for a way to end the conversation as quickly as possible, Elena cut to the chase, "Is my brother going to be alright, Doctor?"

The doctor offered her a slight smile that relieved her stress before he even spoke, "We'd like to keep him overnight just to keep an eye on him, but I'm confident that he's going to be just fine."

Elena sighed deeply and replied, "Thank you, Doctor."

As the doctor walked away, all eyes were on Anna. Stefan would be the one to ask the question on each of their minds, "Any idea whose blood was in his system, Anna?"

Knowing full well she wasn't getting out of this without a thorough explanation, Anna began, "He asked me to turn him weeks ago."

"What?" Elena asked. A look of shock came across her face as she asked, "He fed off you?"

Anna quickly shook her head 'no' and continued to explain, "Three days ago, your father…" Elena's skin tightened at mere mention of Jonathan, "…killed my mother--"

"Wait a minute, Pearl's dead?" Damon bluntly interrupted.

Anna struggled to maintain her composure and offered him a nod before turning back to Elena, "I knew I was running out of time. I was going to leave Mystic Falls for good."

"Why didn't you?" Elena asked, a subtle anger to her tone.

Before she could even respond, Damon came to her defense, "Anna's the one who told me the tomb vamps were in the crowd tonight. Let's try and focus on the problem at hand."

Elena turned back to Anna and asked, "So how did he end up with your blood in his system?"

"I gave him a vial of my blood this morning. I'm done with the games. All I want is to live my life."

"So what, you just gave it to him and left?" Elena asked.

She looked away slightly as she replied, "He said he didn't want to turn anymore. Truth was, the only reason he wanted to in the first place was to be with that girl who turned up dead."

"Vicki," Elena replied.

Anna nodded and continued, "It was only after I saw that he was using me to get to her, after he'd hurt me so badly that I realized how much I cared for him. I can only imagine what you must think of me Elena, but I swear, I'd never do anything to hurt your brother."

Elena looked away slightly and asked, "So why did he--"

"You were dead," Damon interrupted as he stared down Anna. Elena turned to Damon and he continued, "I saw Jeremy tonight."

"When?" Elena asked.

Stunted by the memory of kissing the likeness of the girl asking the question, he paused briefly before answering her question, "After the fire…" he cleared his through, "…before you came home." Again he turned to Anna and continued, "I spared him the details, but I told him that I saw you die." He turned to his brother and Elena and finished his thought, "Then when I was leaving he asked if being a vampire made dealing with the pain easier."

Stefan turned to Anna and completed the scenario, "So he drank your blood and took a bunch of pills to kill himself so he could turn."

"He didn't want to suffer the pain of losing you," Damon offered her, bringing a few tears of happiness to Anna's eyes. Caught off guard by his kindness, Elena and Stefan shot him an odd glare. Seeing their reactions, he quickly changed the subject to a more pressing matter, "Touching as all this is, we do have a serious problem."

"Katherine," Stefan replied.

Just as the conversation was about to ignite, Elena's phone rang. She checked the display and commented quietly, "Oh god, Jenna." She looked to Stefan for comfort, but all he could offer her was a look of solace. She stepped away from the group and answered the call, "Jenna…"

As she spoke with her aunt, Stefan addressed his brother, "Damon--"

"I know; we're out of here," Damon interrupted. He turned to Anna and she could easily tell what he was about to ask of her.

Elena rejoined the group a second later and addressed them, "I need to get home." She turned to Anna just as Damon had a moment earlier.

Anna smiled slightly, almost as if to question whether or not they were serious in what they were asking of her. Finally she replied aloud, "Of course I'll stay with him."

"Thank you," Elena replied, finally willing to accept that as there was more to Damon, there may have been more to Anna than a pair of fangs.

As Elena and Stefan headed for the door, Damon approached Anna and quietly spoke to her, "If Katherine's back and Jon Gilbert's dead, who knows what the hell else is going on in this town. Keep your guard up." Anna nodded and Damon finished his thought, "Tomorrow, you and I are paying a visit to our resident witch; see if she can shed some light on how you're walking and talking."

As he backed away from her, she offered him a nod.

Now by herself, Anna walked to the nurses' desk in the ER. She waited for a moment, though the nurse failed to acknowledge her. Finally, Anna asked, "Excuse me?"

"Yes," the nurse replied without taking her eyes off her paperwork.

"Could you please let me know when I can see Jeremy Gilbert?" Anna politely requested.

"Are you family?" the nurse asked.

"Girlfriend," Anna replied.

"Family only I'm afraid."

"Please I--"

Finally the nurse offered her a look, "Look sweetie, I--"

As she struggled to lead a normal life, Anna had developed a distaste for using compulsion, however, desperate times called for desperate measures.

Their eyes locked and again Anna asked her, "May I please see Jeremy Gilbert?"

The nurse's response was delayed slightly, and then it came with a smile, "Certainly. First room on the left."

"Thank you," Anna replied as she stepped through the double doors to the ER. She looked around briefly to observe any potential dangers before slipping into Jeremy's room. He was hooked up to a few machines, and the steady ring of a heart monitor brought a smile to Anna's face. She pulled a chair up beside his bed and sat down. She reached up to his hand and delicately took it into hers. Within seconds, his eyes weakly opened and again he asked, "Am I dreaming?"

She smiled as she replied, "Stalker girl returns." He slowly shifted upright in the bed and immediately Anna stood and gently pushed him back as she ordered him, "You need to rest."

"What happened?" Jeremy asked. "Damon told me you were…" Anna's smile faded and Jeremy continued, "…was it a lie?"

"You're uncle tried," Anna replied. "He staked me, and left me to burn along with the others they took."

"But if he…" he struggled just to get the words out, "…killed you, how are you--"

"I don't know," Anna replied sincerely.

"Does he know you survived?"

"Jeremy…" keeping her humanity intact made moments like these so difficult, "…something's happened."

Jeremy's eyes narrowed slightly and he asked, "Something like what?"

Anna collected her thoughts and began, "One of the oldest vampires in the history of this town is back. She's held a grudge against your ancestors for decades, and now that she's back…" she looked away for a moment before finishing her sentence, "…your uncle was her first target."

"Jon is dead?" Jeremy asked, his tone not entirely broken. Even after all that his uncle had done to her and her mother, Anna couldn't help but shed a few tears for Jeremy's sake. He took notice of her tears and asked, "Why are you crying?"

"Because I know how bad it hurts to lose someone you love," Anna replied.

Jeremy smiled weakly and placed a hand on her cheek, "Listen to me, Anna. The pain I feel over losing my uncle doesn't compare to the pain I felt when I thought I'd lost you. He was family, but he was also a murderer. He knew how much you meant to me and he tried to kill you, because he thought it was best for me."

"Jeremy--"

"I love you, Anna. My relationship with my uncle has only ever been distant at best, and after this…" he lightly tightened his grip on her hand bringing her eyes to meet his, "…I'm not gonna cry over the guy who tried to kill the girl I love."

Anna smiled through her tears and got to her feet. As she leaned over to give him a kiss, she quietly spoke, "I love you so much."

After several soft kisses, Anna slowly pulled away from him and sat back once again. He smiled slightly as he asked, "So this vampire that's come back; are we gonna make it?"

Anna smiled slightly at Jeremy's not-so-subtle allusion to their future together. She sewed her fingers into his and with a warm smile on her lips, she replied, "I think we're gonna be just fine."

* * *

_And that's that. If you made it this far I hope you enjoyed it :)_

_A part of me really wanted to keep going. There is still so much I could have done (In particular, explaining just how Anna survived not only a staking but immolation as well), without even getting into the numerous story arcs this series already has. But, I'm not totally confident in my characters or my knowledge over the source material. I figured what I did here allowed me to bring Anna back, and finally get some sleep. Believe me, I need sleep._

_Anyways, if you made it this far, thanks for reading :)_  
_-jm _


	2. Chapter 2

_So I initially marked this as complete because I was fine ending it where I did. I brought Anna back, I was happy and the stars were right again. However, boredom is a terrible thing and reviews are a great thing. While I still lack faith in my story/characters/plot, some of my reviewers seemed to enjoy the first chapter enough to push me to keep going. _

_I think I've figured out what I'll be doing in this fic, and I've got my conclusion sorted out for the most part. I have no idea how long it's going to take to get to the end, but I'm going to try and update at least once a week. _

_Anyway, here's chapter 2. I hope you enjoy it :)_

* * *

The following morning, the ripples of chaos that spread during the Founder's Day celebration had slowly begun to dissipate. At Elena's home, Jenna's shaken nerves were settled somewhat by one Alaric Saltzman. By the time Elena and the Salvatore brothers had returned to the Gilbert home, Rick was already there, doing what he could to comfort her while she dealt with the droves of uniforms that were in and out of their once peaceful home. Luckily, Jonathan's body was the first thing they removed from the scene.

"How much longer is this going to take?" Jenna quietly asked, huddled closely with the rest of the group. While she struggled to avoid making direct eye contact, her eyes couldn't help but wander back and forth between Elena and Damon. For all she knew, they had been in the grips of a most passionate kiss the last time she saw them, yet here she was, wrapped in Stefan's arms like nothing happened. Still in shock, she looked to Elena and finally spoke her mind eloquently, "How can you do this?"

Completely confused by her comment, Elena asked, "Do what?"

She knew how wrong it was to be butting in like this, but she couldn't help herself, "Just a few hours ago I see you kissing him…" she turned to Damon, then back to Elena and Stefan, "…and now here you are like nothing happened."

"What?" Elena barked back in shock.

Damon walked away from the group as he continued to look around the room intently. "Katherine," he spoke just loud enough for Stefan to hear. "Cover it up."

Quickly Stefan offered an explanation. Unfortunately, it came out sounding every bit as contrived as it was, though that it came from Elena's boyfriend lent all the believability Jenna needed, "That was rehearsal…for…a school production."

Jenna shook her head slightly while behind her, Alaric simply lowered his forehead to his palm. "That's it?" Jenna asked.

"Yep," Stefan replied with a slight smile. "I really fought for the role of Romeo, but Damon-"

"So wait, you're in a play?" Jenna interrupted with her eyes on Elena.

She fell in line with little drama, "Uh…yeah. All three of us are."

"So, if Damon is Romeo…" she turned to Stefan and asked, "…who are-?"

Damon nonchalantly rejoined the group as he interrupted, answering for his brother, "Tybalt; constant thorn in Romeo's side." He passed behind Stefan and again spoke just loud enough for his brother to hear, "Jon Gilbert's ring is gone."

The last of the uniforms approached the group and addressed them, "We're all done here. We'll be in touch over the next few days if we find anything."

"Thank you so much," Elena replied. For a moment she thought how funny it might have been to lay out the details of what had happened for the detective. How a centuries old vampire with a grudge -who just so happened to look exactly like the girl he was speaking with- was invited into the home without a second thought and ran Jonathan through with a smile on her face.

The detective offered the group a nod and spoke one last time before heading to the door, "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you," Elena and Jenna replied somberly.

As the door closed behind him, their home was silent once again. Rick wrapped his arms around Jenna and she quietly asked, "Is it wrong that I'm not crying?"

Luckily for her, Elena had called her father 'uncle' for years; now it came out easy, "Uncle Jon did everything he could to make himself unlikable. Still…" she calmed herself as she spoke, "…he was family."

Jenna nodded and in an instant, snapped back to reality, "Oh my god, Jeremy…"

"His girlfriend is with him at the hospital," Stefan reassured. "When he wakes up, she'll be the first thing he sees."

"Do they let you into the ER if you're not family?" Jenna asked.

"Oh I think they'll let her in," Damon replied with a knowing smile.

* * *

In the Emergency Room, Anna hadn't moved once throughout the night. She hadn't fallen asleep, nor had she taken her eyes off him as he slept. Her vigil constant and unwavering for the man she cared so deeply for. As Stefan had mentioned earlier across town, Jeremy's eyes slowly opened and immediately he took Anna's smiling face into view. He could have gotten lost in her eyes for days; then she spoke, "Good morning sleepy head."

"Hey," Jeremy replied with a slight smile.

She leaned forward in her seat and asked, "How're you feeling?"

"A little tired, but…" he listened to the low and steady chime of the heart monitor, "…it sounds like I'm alive."

Anna frowned slightly and replied, "I'm sorry, Jer. You were unconscious and-"

He smiled weakly as he interrupted her, "Hey it's no big deal, every teenager should have their stomach pumped once; it's a life experience right?"

"I just didn't know if you really wanted to turn or if it was just because…"

A silence filled the room for a moment and Jeremy answered her, "A part of me is dying to know what it's like to have your gifts, to be able to turn the world off."

"And the other part?" Anna asked.

"The other part of me is afraid that this won't be as special if I'm like you. I'm not saying I'll never want to turn, but right now…" he reached down and took her hand into his, "…I just want to be you and me, the way we've always been."

Anna's smile eventually won out. She was just grateful to be alive, to be able to sit at his side and have this conversation. She stood up and leaned over him to give him a kiss; his free hand weakly came around the base of her neck, just so he might hold her once again. As she pulled away, she quietly spoke, "Deal."

From the doorway to Jeremy's room, Damon wasted no time being himself, "Awe, now isn't that sweet?"

Anna's eyes closed and her forehead lightly crashed onto Jeremy's, "Good morning, Damon."

As Anna once again took her seat, Jeremy calmly asked, "What are you doing here?"

Damon slowly approached them and replied, his tone that rare non-dick, "I need to borrow your girlfriend."

"What for?" Jeremy asked.

"Because last night, I watched your late uncle…" there was the dick we know and love, "…put a stake through her heart, cover her with gasoline and set her on fire." Jeremy shifted uncomfortably in his bed at mention of Anna's would-be murder, and Damon finished his thought, "Forgive me but I'm just a little curious as to how she's walking and talking."

"I said I would go with you and I will, but I'm not just leaving him here by himself," Anna replied.

"That's okay…" Damon replied, when perfectly on cue, Stefan and Elena walked through the door, "…I brought reinforcements."

At the sight of Elena, Jeremy instantly remembered the volumes of lies and betrayal his sister had left in her wake. However, as he lay in that bed, connected to countless machines, he knew he would not have been alive had it not been for her. She wouldn't earn his absolution overnight, but he was ready to let the process begin. At the mere sight of a smile on his face -a smile directed at her- Elena knew things were going to get better between her and her brother.

"Are you going to be alright?" Anna asked.

"He'll be home in just a few hours," Doctor Mathias replied as he entered the room behind Stefan.

Elena turned to the doctor and asked, no in the slightest bit unhappy but caught off guard, "He will?"

The doctor proceeded past Anna to check a few of the readouts on the monitor beside Jeremy and replied, "Judging by these statistics, possibly even sooner." He turned back to the group and proceeded towards the door wearing a slight smile, "I'll leave you folks alone."

As soon as the doctor was gone, Damon turned back to Anna and barked with a snap of his fingers, "Anna."

She turned to Jeremy and said her goodbyes, "I'll be by later."

He smiled as his eyes once again met hers, "K."

She leaned down and gave him one last kiss before leaving. She pulled away, their hands remaining together as long as they could before finally separating. As Anna approached the group, Stefan offered his concern for what they were doing, "You know she's not exactly fond of our kind."

Damon nodded and smiled sarcastically, "Yeah, ought to be a lot of fun asking her for help."

Putting the pieces together from what he had read in Elena's journal, Jeremy asked, "Anna's not going to be in any danger, is she?"

"She's not really fond of vampires in general but she only _hates_ us," Damon replied. "In her book, Anna's neutral. She'll be fine, scout's honor."

"Still, please try and be careful?" Stefan replied, the memory of the witch's warning from just a few hours ago, constantly replaying in his mind.

At the sight of Stefan's most serious look, Damon simply nodded. It was these rare moments when he failed to smile like a jerk that one could tell that Damon both understood and acknowledged whatever was asked of him.

Anna and Damon walked out of the room, then the hospital, while a concerned Elena turned to Stefan who smiled before placing a reassuring arm around her; If only he had told her just how nervous he was about this little meeting.

* * *

Damon and Anna walked along the path to Bonnie's front door and Anna asked, "Why were Stefan and Jeremy so concerned about this?"

"That bit of magic that got your mother out of the church?" Damon replied, the mere mention of her mother shutting Anna off like a light. "That was thanks to her and her grandmother…" Damon knocked at the door and finished his thought, "…the latter didn't make it."

A few seconds later, several latches could be heard being undone on the opposite side of the door and finally, the door swung open revealing Bonnie. Looking most unsurprised, Bonnie greeted him with about as much kindness as she could muster, "Damon." Eyeing up Anna, she immediately knew what she was and asked, "Who's she?"

He wasn't lying when he said he was sorry for what happened to her grandmother. All of his trademark narcissism and sarcasm was nowhere to be scene as he replied, "I think the better question is 'What is she'? I was hoping you might be able to tell me."

Bonnie hesitated for a moment before her curiosity got the best of her. She tilted her head back, signaling Anna to approach the door. She did as she was silently instructed and Bonnie raised her hand, almost as to mime the barrier that kept unwelcome vampires out. Anna did the same, forcing her hand to immovable thin air. Bonnie's hand slowly approached Anna's and she closed her eyes as she struggled to divine what she could from the vampire. Without even contacting her physically, she had picked up everything she needed from Anna.

She quickly withdrew her hand and her eyes shattered open. Without a second thought, she locked eyes with Anna and spoke, "Come in."

Anna slowly stepped through the threshold and as Damon attempted to follow her, he found he was still unwelcome, "What about-"

Bonnie's face told of her sarcasm as she replied lightly, "Oh we're not quite there yet, but I'll let you know what happens in a few minutes."

"I promised to bring her back to someone alive," Damon replied.

"And I wouldn't have invited her in if I were worried for my life, Damon," Bonnie replied.

Just as she closed the door he called out once again, "Wait, Bonnie?" She opened the door slightly and Damon continued, "You said we're not there yet…" he made his best dashing eyes at her and finished his thought, "…does that mean we still have a chance, you and I?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes and slammed the door in his face.

"Well that wasn't nice," Damon replied as he turned and took a seat on the concrete porch.

* * *

"I just made tea, would you like some?" Bonnie asked her guest. She extended her hand towards the couch in the living area of her grandmother's home, and Anna obliged.

Confused and caught off guard, Anna replied, "Sure." As Bonnie stepped into the next room to pour the tea, Anna asked, "Why are you being nice to me? You obviously know what I am; aren't you afraid?"

"Of you, no," Bonnie replied nonchalantly. She proceeded back into the living area and placed a small cup of tea in front of the vampire as she replied, "Besides, I have enough vervein in my system to put you down for quite a long time. But, I don't imagine I have anything to fear from you."

"How can you know that?" Anna asked.

"Does the name 'Emily' mean anything to you?" Bonnie asked.

Anna's eyes widened and she smiled slightly, "You're a descendant of Emily's, aren't you?"

Bonnie didn't offer vocal response, just a nod. She placed her cup of tea on the coffee table between them and replied, "Turns out magic runs in our family. It's in my blood, just like it was in my grandmother's, and Emily's."

"Do you know why Damon brought me here?" Anna asked.

"I suspect it has something to do with the fact that you're walking and talking," Bonnie replied. "Who did it?"

Knowing full well what she was being asked, she quietly replied, "Jonathan Gilbert."

"Elena's father?" Bonnie asked.

"How'd you know?" Anna asked.

"I've known for weeks now. I can practically see it in their auras; same blood, same flesh. And Damon thinks _I_ hate your kind."

"Don't you?" Anna asked, just slightly harsh.

"Two vampires cost me the life of my grandmother. You might imagine I'm not keen on forgiving and forgetting," Bonnie replied.

"Then why help me? Invite me in?" Anna asked.

"Because I believe you weren't lying when you told Jeremy you just wanted to live your life," Bonnie replied. Her face told of her sincerity as she finished her thought, "Sorry about your mom."

"Thanks," Anna replied, _just_ unsettled by how much the witch had gleaned from her in such a short time. She fought back tears for a moment and asked, "How did I survive last night? There aren't a lot of ways to kill a vampire and Jon Gilbert did most of them to me."

Bonnie smiled slightly as she retrieved her mug from the table. She brought it to her lips and before taking a sip, quietly spoke, "That's a beautiful necklace."

Anna immediately looked down to the simple rope and trinket that graced her neck. For a moment, she was lost in amazement that it had actually held together all these years. She pulled the charm from beneath her shirt and held it just in front of her as she explained, "My mother gave it to me for my birthday over a century and a half ago."

Bonnie placed the mug back on the table and extended her hand as she asked, "May I see it?"

Immediately Anna knew she had to be asking for a reason. Being one of the few remaining memories of her mother, she was cautious about handing it to anyone, let alone someone she knew held a hatred for vampires, "What for?"

"Because I've read enough to know Emily's handiwork when I see it," Bonnie replied. Anna again looked down to her necklace as Bonnie reassured her, "If we had anything to fear from one another, I would never have let you in."

Anna took a deep breath. She hesitantly reached behind her to undo the knot that held the necklace in place, and as her fingers touched the rope, she addressed Bonnie, "I'm trusting you, please don't make me regret it."

"You have my word; you'll walk out of this house, with the necklace, exactly as you are now, as soon as we're done," Bonnie replied.

Anna carefully undid the knot and delicately dropped the necklace into Bonnie's open palm. As it contacted her skin, Bonnie's eyes fluttered closed and a wide smile formed on her lips. She slowly opened her eyes to take in the necklace. Regardless of her reaction, it was just a rope with a crude talisman, made up of nothing more than a gem encrusted piece of metal.

"Wow," Bonnie quietly exclaimed as she looked it over.

"What is it?" Anna asked calmly.

Bonnie looked to Anna, then back to the necklace as she spoke, "Sorry, it's just…" again her smile grew wider as she continued to explain, "…it's overflowing with energy. I'm still pretty new to all this, but I've never felt anything like _this_ before." She looked up to Anna and asked, "You don't feel any different having taken it off?"

"No," Anna replied with a slight shake of her head.

Again Bonnie smiled as she gently rubbed the stone at its center, "Your mother must have had Emily bind it to you."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that its spell is bound to you and you alone. If someone were to take it from you, it would be powerless," Bonnie replied.

Anna smiled as she replied, "That's great and all, but what does it do?"

Bonnie closed her eyes as she held the charm, focusing on discerning the spell Emily cast over it. As it came to her, she quietly spoke it, "So long as you shall wear this charm, death will never fall on you." Her eyes slowly opened, and again a slight smile formed on her lips.

"That's it?" Anna asked receiving a simple nod from Bonnie. The witch handed the necklace back to Anna, who promptly slipped back around her neck. Done retying the knot, Anna asked, "So what, aside from being a vampire, as long as I wear this, I'm-"

"Unkillable?" Bonnie finished for her. She sighed lightly as she finished her thought, "It would appear so." As Anna examined the charm for a moment, Bonnie took notice of her troubled gaze. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"I wish I could thank her," Anna replied with a thin sheet of tears in her eyes.

"Wherever she is, I'm sure she knows," Bonnie replied with a warm smile. Anna smiled slightly as she dropped the charm back down her shirt. While she harbored a genuine distaste for vampires, Bonnie felt somewhat of a kindred soul in Anna. She wasn't an aimless bloodsucker, she was a girl and all she wanted was to live. Their eyes met and Bonnie ended their little meeting, "He's waiting for you."

Anna stood from the couch and replied, somewhat agitated by the Salvatore that waited on the opposite side of the door, "Damon."

"Not him," Bonnie replied as she stood.

Again, they shared a brief smile and as she reached the door, Anna offered Bonnie a kindness, "Thanks for trusting me."

Even though she truly felt pity for her, Bonnie unfortunately couldn't let it be that simple; she had seen more of Anna's life than she let on. She gave a disarming smile before offering her fair warning, "Anna, I _am_ sorry for what happened to you and your mother; I really _do_ believe that all you want is to make a life for yourself here. But if you so much as take a single sip from an innocent, and it comes back to me, that charm won't save your life." Anna's eyes told of her understanding, though Bonnie felt it necessary to ask aloud, "Understand?"

Anna simply nodded and headed through the door without another word.

* * *

At the sound of the door opening and closing, Damon got to his feet and asked, "Well?"

Anna reached to her necklace and replied, "My mother gave this to me on my 18th birthday."

Observing the rather inelegant charm, Damon asked, "Good for you, what is it?"

She slipped it back beneath her shirt, and headed towards the sidewalk, towards Elena and Jeremy's home. As they walked, she replied, "My mother had Emily put a spell on it."

"Like she did with the rings," Damon added.

"Right. You said Jon Gilbert had a ring that made him pretty much unkillable, right?" Anna asked.

"Yeah, so does the teacher," Damon replied. "Is that what the necklace does; keeps a vampire from being permanently killed?"

"No, it keeps _me_ from getting permanently killed," Anna replied. Damon's confusion appeared on his face and Anna explained, "Emily bound the spell to me like a lock and key; it only works on me." While he understood, his silence was rather unusual, bringing Anna to ask, "What?"

"It just seems a bit easy, don't you think?" Damon replied flatly.

"Haven't you ever heard, that when life is good it's better to not ask questions?" Anna replied. Damon reached a hand out and grabbed a hold of Anna's arm, turning her to face him. "What?" she asked.

Damon's eyes told of the nature of what was coming. It wouldn't be sarcastic, it wouldn't be snide or rude; it would simply be him. "With Pearl gone, Katherine back in town, and you being unkillable, I need to know what side you're on."

"I'm on my side, Damon," Anna replied. "I just want to get on with my life. Just like Stefan and Elena…" mere mention of that unfortunate pairing brought him to flinch slightly while Anna continued, "…Jeremy and I have something good between us. I just want to see what tomorrow brings me."

Having flipped the 'Elena and Stefan switch', Damon was immediately more himself, "I'm glad the two of you are keeping each other cozy, but if Katherine decides to raise hell here, you're going to have to choose a side."

Knowing she wasn't getting out of this without a clear-cut answer, she replied, "She was my mother's best friend. That doesn't change the fact that Katherine's out of her mind, and given the chance she'd kill every last person here, Jeremy and Elena included. I know you don't want Elena dead-"

"Is it really that obvious?" Damon interjected.

"…And I'll die before I let anything happen to Jeremy, so yeah; I'm on your side, Damon," Anna finished.

"Glad to hear it," Damon replied. They came to a fork in the road and Damon stopped in his tracks, bringing Anna to turn and ask, "What're you doing?"

"Stefan's is this way," he replied. Cold as he was, Damon was changing by the second. No longer just an emotionless killing machine, but a man with the most simple of goals in the book; win over the girl of his dreams. With a serious, yet calm expression on his face, he offered her before leaving, "Be careful, alright?"

She nodded and replied, "You too."

* * *

The walk back to Stefan's was just long enough for Damon to dwell on the events that had unfolded these past few weeks. The lies, the deceit that seemed to surround her completely; he was done with Katherine. There was a time where he would have done anything to have her back, and now all he could think of was Elena; her perfect likeness, with none of the psychopathy. She had won him over completely, made him want to be a better man. The warmth he'd felt these past few days at merely offering the occasional kind word was most satisfying to say the least.

He knew things were going to get difficult before they ever got better, especially with Katherine in town. But for the first time in years, he felt confident. Confident that whatever fell on their little circle, they'd make it through.

As he crossed into Stefan's home, he found Stefan and Elena standing with their backs to him in the hall, motionless and silent. On alert at seeing them as they were, he asked as he approached, just loud enough for Stefan to hear, "What's going on?"

"Come now, Damon; don't be shy," Katherine spoke from the living room.

* * *

_And that's all for this entry. If you made it this far I hope you enjoyed it :)_

_Like I said, I'm going to try and update at least once a week, so long as my life and my muse allow for it ;)_

_Thanks a bunch to my reviewers :) Hopefully this chapter wasn't a let down._

_-jm_


	3. Chapter 3

_This went a LOT quicker than I thought it would. As usual, zero confidence, thought I must say, this first section still gives me a chill._

_Anyways, without further adieu, here's chapter 3. I hope you enjoy it :)_

* * *

Just as Stefan and Elena were frozen at the sight of Katherine, as he crept alongside them, Damon too was virtually motionless at the sight of her. She lay back on an armchair beside the fireplace, her legs crossed and a wine glass, half-full of blood rested in her left hand. She wore the same outfit from the previous night, as well as a smile that told of her absolute confidence while she spoke, "What? No applause?"

Elena's tears slowly began to run down her cheeks and finally, a few words broke free from her lips, just barely audible, "I look just like her."

"Wouldn't you love to know why?" Katherine replied from across the room, her twisted smile widening as she leaned forward.

"What are you doing here, Katherine?" Stefan interjected.

"You always were the curious one, weren't you Stefan?" Katherine replied. She turned her eyes to Damon and continued, "Damon never asked any questions. He never cared; he always just did what he was told."

"Things are different now," Damon replied.

"Are they?" Katherine replied as she stood from the chair. She nonchalantly strolled across the floor, so elegantly and effortlessly, almost as if to ask through her stride, _"Are you kidding?"_ Then she spoke again, her eyes still locked on Damon, "Things didn't feel different when you kissed me last night."

Feeling more than a bit anxious in the moment, Damon replied, "Yeah…" he tilted his head towards Elena, "…I thought you were her."

Stefan turned to Damon looking more than a bit angry as Katherine again spoke to Damon, "So it _is_ true." She chuckled slightly as she continued, "Damon Salvatore is in love with someone, besides Damon Salvatore."

Feeling left out in this verbal melee, Elena finally mustered up the confidence to speak, "Why did you kill my-"

Katherine instantly interrupted her, "Aside from what you may think, _you_ mean less than nothing in this. You don't speak to me unless you're spoken to, understand?"

Never feeling fear for her life so much as she did in that moment, both Stefan and Damon took a step forward, shielding her somewhat from Katherine. While Stefan appreciated the gesture, he couldn't help but feel a strong desire to punch his brother in the face.

Again Katherine smiled, this time with a false warmth, "Awe, isn't that sweet. The two knights come to her rescue."

"You're right; Elena isn't a part of this, so why don't you just tell us what you're here for?" Stefan replied curtly.

"Very well," Katherine replied as she raised the glass of blood and poured it down her throat. She threw the glass into the fireplace and finished her thought, "I came back to tie up loose ends, the first of which being little Elena's waste of a father."

No matter how she despised Jonathan and everything he believed, he was her father. Elena's tears instantly ran harder still as Stefan again tried to get to the bottom of this little visit, "So you killed Jonathan; now what?"

"Oh you know, I thought I'd do some reminiscing. I do have a _lot_ of memories here, Stefan. But you both know that, now don't you?" Katherine replied.

A few weeks earlier, this might have played out in a very different way for Damon. However, his patience for Katherine was worn to nothing and he struck as he knew he had to, in order to get anything out of her, "Oh come on."

Instantly, Katherine's happy-go-lucky attitude faded completely and a most serious look came across her face. She wasn't one for being mocked.

Damon took a step forward and pushed his luck further, "You have reminiscing to do? Please."

"Damon-" Stefan quietly began only to be interrupted by his brother.

"Let me bring you up to speed; Mystic Falls is over you. Either tell us what you came for or-"

"Or what?" Katherine denounced. Before anyone could have made the slightest of movements, a mirage of color flashed about the room and once again, Katherine stood by the fireplace, now holding Elena at arms length by her throat.

"Elena!" Damon and Stefan shouted in unison.

Just as they attempted to approach her, Katherine warned, "Ah ah ah…"

Damn and Stefan immediately stopped in their tracks and Stefan shot his brother a slight glare. He knew whatever they had to deal with regarding Katherine, would be nothing by comparison to what he, his brother and Elena would go through when it was through.

"Let's be clear about something right here and now, K boys? I don't care about either one of you. I never did and believe me when I tell you, I don't care about this little bitch, her family or her friends," Katherine replied.

"What about Isobel?" Damon asked. "You kill her daughter; she might not take that so well."

Katherine laughed as she replied, "You think I'm afraid of Isobel?"

"Fair enough," Damon quietly replied.

"Please just don't…" Stefan began, catching himself before sounding like a beggar, "…please don't hurt her."

Katherine turned to Elena and again spoke in a calm and carefree tone, "You hear that? He doesn't want me to hurt you." Elena's hand wrapped Katherine's wrist as the grip on her throat tightened. She pulled Elena in closer to her, and within a few inches of her ear, continued, "You know why? Because _you_, look like _me_." Struggling for air, Elena cried harder still while Katherine continued to crush her both mentally and physically, "That's the only reason either of them have the slightest interest in you. You're nothing more than a caricature, of the woman they wish I was…"

From across the room Damon and Stefan listened on, desperately wanting to stop Katherine from saying these things, but they both knew the slightest intervention could have cost Elena her life.

"…and if you want to live, you're going to make sure they do exactly as I ask, understand?"

Elena weakly nodded and Katherine threw her to the floor like a ragdoll. Immediately Stefan and Damon rushed over to help her while Katherine spoke, "Look at the two of you; caring and concerning yourselves with these humans. It makes my skin crawl to know I made you both." While Stefan had quickly collected a terrified Elena into his arms, Damon kept his focus on Katherine who had knelt just before them, "I'm going out for a drink. I'll be seeing the three of you soon."

In a flash, Katherine was out of the house and Damon turned to Elena, "Are you-"

"She'll be fine," Stefan interrupted, pulling Elena tightly to him. His anger at Damon was obvious, and Damon himself was fully aware that he had finally crossed the line.

As she trembled, a single question remained in Elena's mind. She collected herself as best she could and asked, "What she said; was it-"

"No," Damon and Stefan replied in unison. Again Stefan glared at his brother and Damon finally backed off, allowing Stefan the honor of comforting her.

"Yes, at first your likeness to Katherine drew me to you, but now that I'm with you…" Stefan treaded such a fine line. Any one wrong word in a time like this could have ruined everything they had. He simply offered her a smile and finished his thought the best way he knew how, "…I love you, Elena. I love you for all of the reasons you're not like her."

Elena smiled slightly through her tears, and Stefan leaned his face to hers. They shared a brief kiss, and when they pulled apart, Damon was gone.

* * *

Anna slipped into Jeremy's room, silent and unannounced as usual, only to find him laying on his bed passed out. As she looked on his sleeping form, she remembered how she'd found him just a few hours earlier. She respected his wishes; his reasoning to not turn. A part of her agreed that the oddity of their relationship might be a part of what made it so special. Still, she couldn't help but wonder if their lives might have been easier if he had turned. Especially with Katherine out and about, there was no way of knowing who she'd come after. She knew Katherine needed no reason to take a life, and at least if Jeremy were a vampire, she'd have to work a little harder to kill him.

She shook the thoughts from her head, and took her place at his side; the slow rise and fall of his chest reassuring her that he was still alive. She laid her head back on his pillow and took him in for a moment. Their relationship had grown so much these past few weeks. There was no question how much she loved him, she only wished she could keep him safe.

Jeremy's eyes fluttered open and as he looked about the room, he centered on Anna and immediately a wide smile graced her lips.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hey," Anna replied. "How're you feeling?"

Jeremy closed his eyes and rolled his head back to the center of his pillow, "Tired."

"Do you want me to get you something?" Anna offered.

His head rolled back to the side and he lightly opened his eyes as he asked, "Would you mind?"

She leaned to him and placed a kiss on his lips, "Sit tight; I'll be right back."

Anna hopped off the bed and as she proceeded down the stairs, she felt lighter than air. She was alive, virtually unkillable, Jeremy was safe, and barring any interference from Katherine, she just might get the happy ending she wished for, after all. She casually opened the refrigerator and peered inside; Ham, Swiss, Tuna… She retrieved a few items when suddenly she heard a door in the house had opened. Before she could even react, Katherine was right beside her, her hand propping her up in the doorjamb.

"Annabelle," Katherine smiled. "I thought that was you last night. What are you doing here?"

What was she to do? She had no idea what Katherine did and didn't know about what was going on in Mystic Falls. She _did_ know that if she linked herself to Jeremy in any way, he would instantly become a target. Katherine on the other hand would obviously know that Anna _had_ to have been invited in by someone, so the question became, who to pin the bullseye to?

She blinked and stumbled slightly before finally replying, "Waiting for someone."

"Really?" Katherine asked. "Who?"

"Elena Gilbert," Anna replied. "I'm pulling this con at the local High School. She-"

Katherine burst out laughing, interrupting her. Anna looked away as she knew she'd been caught, and Katherine asked as she collected herself, "Do you really think I'm that stupid?" Anna sheepishly shook her head 'no', when she remembered the charm around her neck. She felt a surge of confidence, though she kept it to herself as Katherine continued, sure to gain Anna's absolute attention, "How is little Jeremy? Is his tummy feeling better?"

"What do you want?" Anna asked as quietly and sternly as she could, without ruining her charade.

"I'm looking for your mother," Katherine replied as she walked about the room. Anna's eyes quickly filled with a sheet of tears as Katherine finished her thought, "I know the vampires beneath Fell's church were released, and I know she was one of them, so how about it; has Pearl coming looking for you, Annabelle?"

Fighting to keep her tears back, Anna replied harshly, "Mother's dead…" Katherine stopped and locked on Anna as she continued, "…Jonathan Gilbert."

Katherine sighed before replying, "Well that ruins everything."

"I'm sorry my mother's death is inconvenient for you," Anna barked back.

Again Katherine chuckled slightly, "Don't take that tone with me. I'll snap your little boyfriend's neck like a twig and there wouldn't be a thing on this earth that you could do to stop me."

Anna quickly weighed her options. If she took a stab at Katherine, it would almost certainly end with her being staked again, and Jeremy being killed. She kept her charade going and calmly asked, "What did you need mother for?"

"Pearl had a trinket made not long before she was imprisoned," Katherine replied and Anna's eyes widened slightly; Katherine must have come for the necklace. Anna kept her poker face in play and Katherine continued to explain, "Emily wrote of it in her journal; she called it her greatest achievement.

"What was it?" Anna asked.

"She only refers to it as 'the item'," Katherine replied. "I know that she made it specifically for your mother, and I can only assume that whatever it was, she had it made for you."

"Made for me? But…" Anna's glassed-over eyes raced about as she replied in an attempt to move the attention off of her, "…that doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't make sense?" Katherine asked.

"_Got her,"_ Anna thought. "She was out of that tomb for weeks before she was killed."

"And?" Katherine asked.

Without batting an eyelash, Anna replied, "Whatever it is you're looking for, if she had it with her, wouldn't she have given it to me?" Katherine's eyes narrowed and Anna finished her thought, "It's been over 150 years. If she didn't have it with her in the tomb, wherever it was when she was put there, it's long gone now."

Anna could see it in Katherine's eyes, clear as day; she was furious. She pushed the random pilings of paperwork from the counter as she barked, "Dammit." Obviously not getting what she came for from Anna, she quietly muttered, "The witch."

Without another word, Katherine turned and left the Gilbert's home. She only wished she could be there when Katherine and Bonnie butt heads. Certainly that would be a sight worth seeing. Regardless, Anna breathed a slight sigh of relief as she walked away. Katherine was gone for the moment; away from Jeremy and that was all Anna needed. As she collected herself, Jeremy came down the stairs using the railing for support and Anna quickly rushed to his aid, "You shouldn't be out of bed."

"I thought I heard you talking to someone," Jeremy replied weakly.

"Yeah," Anna replied. He would find out sooner or later who and what Katherine was, at least if he knew, he might be more aware and more cautious. "Jeremy…"

Just as she began, there he was again; Damon. Holding up the doorway as he interrupted her, "I always seem to catch you two in the cutest of moments, don't I?"

"These visits of yours are becoming a little too frequent, Damon," Anna replied as she helped Jeremy back up the stairs. "What do you want?"

"Katherine was here?" Damon asked as he looked around the house.

"She just left," Anna replied.

"Who's Katherine?" Jeremy asked.

"Any chance she said where she was going?" Damon asked disregarding Jeremy's question completely.

"The witch-" Anna began only for Damon to interrupt her.

"She's going for Bonnie?" Damon barked in mild panic.

Anna nodded and Damon quickly pulled his cellphone from his pocket.

* * *

Bonnie's cellphone vibrated atop the coffee table she and Anna sat at earlier. Knowing she wouldn't answer his call, Damon sent her a text message. She picked up her phone and read his message aloud, _"Not Elena, DON'T LET HER IN!"_

"What the hell?" Bonnie asked of the message. Just as she put the phone back down, there was a knock at the door. Now on the highest of alert, she stepped to the door and looked through the peephole. Sure enough, the girl on the opposite side of the door _did_ appear to be Elena, though she knew warnings like the one she'd received were not to be taken lightly, not in this town.

She slipped the door open and Katherine greeted her with a slight smile. She'd been keeping track of all of the comings and goings throughout these past few days. She knew Elena and Bonnie's friendship was going through a rough period and using a most sympathetic tone, Katherine asked, "Can I come in?"

Bonnie's face remained deadpan as she replied with a slight shake of her head, "No."

"Please, Bonnie; I just…" Her acting was golden as she even managed to wrangle a few tears, "…I just want all of this to be behind us."

Bonnie could feel her presence, even over the moderate distance that separated them. She knew this wasn't Elena, and reading all she had these past few weeks, she had a name and a history to go with the creature that stood at her door. She said nothing as she developed a ringing in Katherine's ears. Gasps of pain passed Katherine's lips as her hands crashed onto her ears. At the sight of her suffering, Bonnie amplified the ringing further till Katherine fell to her knees and was now screaming in pain.

Bonnie knelt safely behind the threshold, and calmly spoke over Katherine's cries, "I don't know what you were thinking coming here, but if I were you, I would go back to wherever it is that you came from, and leave my friends alone."

Katherine struggled to speak through her cries, "You…can't hold me…here forever…"

Bonnie stood and looked down on Katherine as she spoke, "You're right." She reached to a table beside the door retrieving a stake and asked, "Should I just kill you?"

"You're…not…a murderer…" Katherine replied.

"No I'm not," Bonnie replied. Again she kneeled before Katherine, taunting her further by slipping the stake through the threshold, its tip _just_ touching her chest, "Not yet." Without another word, without even laying a hand on her, Bonnie pushed Katherine into the middle of the street.

The ringing in her head gone, Katherine picked herself up and shouted, "You can't protect them all!"

"Watch me," Bonnie warned.

In a flash, Katherine was gone and Bonnie looked back to her phone. She picked it up and after flipping through her contacts, she placed the phone to her ear. The other party picked up and she quietly spoke, "She's gone…Right…I'm on my way." Before hanging up, she caught the person on the other end, "Hey, Damon…" she couldn't believe what she was about to say. She very well might have seen it wasn't Elena on her own, though she still felt inclined to offer him a kindness, "…thanks."

* * *

Elena sat beside Stefan on a couch in the living area of his home. She was nestled tightly in his arms, the red mark left by Katherine's hand on her throat still clearly visible. Her tears over what Katherine had said ceased long ago thanks to Stefan. They had a way of comforting each other through just about anything, and while the subject was truly delicate, they'd been down this road before. Granted this was all too real with Katherine being back, nothing had changed between them. They were in love and nothing would change that.

"What are you thinking?" Stefan asked.

"We need to find out why she's here," Elena replied. "Depending on what she wants, if we can just get it over with so she'll leave." She looked to Stefan and asked, "What?"

He smiled as he offered, "You know…" he gently brushed her hair from her face as he continued, "…everyday you amaze me a little more. With what you went through not even an hour ago, and look at you; you're itching to throw yourself back into it."

"Maybe there's more of her in me than we all thought?" Elena replied.

"No," Stefan replied simply as he gave her a kiss. He pulled away from her and placed a hand on her face as he finished his thought, "I just think you're amazing."

Elena finally smiled when Stefan's phone rang. He sighed at the sight of the caller ID; Damon.

Taking notice of his reaction, Elena commented, "With Katherine in town you can't ignore him; it might actually be important."

"Somehow I highly doubt that," Stefan replied. He clicked 'talk' and spoke, "Yeah."

Stefan's eyes immediately told of the importance of Damon's phone call. After listening to all that his brother had to say, Stefan spoke, "We're on our way."

He ended the call and Elena asked, "What's going on?"

"Katherine went after Bonnie," Stefan replied as he stood from the couch.

"Oh my god, is she alright?"

"She's a witch, a powerful one at that; she's fine."

"So what's going on, where are we going?" Elena asked.

"Your house," Stefan replied.

* * *

At Elena's home, the roundtable was assembled. Stefan, Elena, Jeremy, Anna, Damon, and Bonnie sat around the living area in discussion of what to do about Katherine. Everyone was brought up to speed regarding the nature of Anna's necklace, and Jeremy was finally dealt the revelation that there was a doppelganger of Elena roaming around. For all he'd known, he may have even encountered her these past few days. Considering he still didn't have his strength, he was dealing with it rather well.

"I just don't get how it's possible," Jeremy commented. "How can she look exactly like you?"

"At Stefan's, she taunted us that she knew how," Elena replied. Even with the chaos that had fallen on them, Elena was very happy to have her brother speaking to her once again. "As much as I don't want to run into her again, I am curious."

"That would make six of us," Damon replied.

"So what now?" Anna asked. "We know she's looking for the necklace and I think it's pretty obvious that we're not going to give it to her."

"Agreed," Stefan replied.

Damon's eyes wandered for a moment before he spoke, "Wait a minute." He turned to Bonnie and continued, "You said the necklace was bound to Anna, right? Its spell only works for her?"

"That's right," Bonnie replied.

"Why _don't_ we give it to her?" Damon replied to the group. "If she thinks she's invulnerable, Bonnie can hold her, one of us can stake her; wham bam, thank you ma'am."

"Honestly, I don't know if it's that easy," Bonnie replied.

"What do you mean?" Damon asked.

"Emily made quite a few of these sorts of things, each of them with different spells. Whatever Katherine's looking for, it might not necessarily be Anna's necklace," Bonnie replied.

"But she said my mother had asked Emily to make it," Anna replied. "What else could it be?"

"What else indeed," Bonnie replied most cryptically.

While everyone let the mystery settle in, Damon broke the silence as he turned to Bonnie and asked, "What I asked you about earlier, can you-"

"Oh, yeah," Bonnie replied as she stood from the arm of the couch. Damon, Stefan and Elena followed her to the door, while Anna remained with Jeremy on the couch. At the threshold to the door, Bonnie's eyes closed and she quietly began muttering out a spell.

"What's she doing?" Elena asked.

Damon turned to Elena and replied, "Changing the locks."

"Elena?" Bonnie called without turning to her.

Elena stepped beside Bonnie, and the witch extended her hand to her friend. Elena took her hand and Bonnie looked over to her. Elena could tell just by the expression on her face, Bonnie was ready to let their friendship heal. She hated not having Elena to talk to and though it would never change what he and Stefan were responsible for, Damon went out of his way to keep her safe. It wouldn't bring her grandmother back, but it was a start.

Bonnie again closed her eyes and finished the incantation. A ripple of air passed through the house and as Bonnie looked to Elena, she asked, "Is that it?"

"Magic; big overture, little show," Bonnie replied with a smile.

While Elena and Bonnie shared a hug, Stefan asked, "Do we need to be invited in again?"

As they pulled away from each other, Bonnie replied, "You were in the house at the time the spell was cast; unless another spell is cast to specifically keep any of you out, you're always welcome."

"Thank you," Stefan and Anna replied in unison. At hearing her quiet reply the group turned to Anna to find Jeremy had fallen asleep with his head in her lap. Elena smiled slightly, happier than she'd been in days at the sight of Anna taking care of her brother.

* * *

_And that's it for this entry. If you made it this far, I hope you enjoyed it :)_

_I think I had my big idea while working on this chapter. I'm not sure how it's going to pan out, but I think it'll give me the ending I want. I've got some thought collecting to do in regards to where to start the next chapter, and again, I'm still not quite sure how long this will end up being._

_Thanks a bunch to my reviewers :) I hope this chapter wasn't a let down..._

_-jm_

_P.S. An internet cookie to everyone who caught the Buffy reference ;D_

_**6/18/10** - To anyone re-reading this, you may notice I've made changes in chapters 2 & 3. I **just **realized a MASSIVE error I made in continuity and fixed it as best I could. I can't believe how stupid that mistake was :(_


	4. Chapter 4

_Where chapter 3 went a lot faster than I thought it would, this one seemed to take forever. Probably due to the lack of source material/motiviation. When the finale aired I was so excited to get writing. Now unfortunately, I'm left with a little less motivation than I'd hoped for :(_

_I think I have one, maybe two more chapters to go. As always, I'm EXCEPTIONALLY apprehensive about my work. Some of my reviewers have told me I have nothing to worry about and I wholeheartedly appreciate that :) Still, I can't help it :(_

_There are a lot of staccato scene shifts in this one, hopefully it brings a faster pace to the action. Anyways, here is chapter 4. I hope you enjoy it :)_

* * *

Several hours had passed since Bonnie had revoked Katherine's right of passage into Elena and Jeremy's home. Jeremy's strength had returned to him and at long last he was up and about on his own. With Jeremy able to take care of himself, and Katherine unable to enter their house, Anna and the Salvatore brothers felt a great deal more relaxed at leaving Jeremy and Elena alone.

It didn't take much coercing on Anna's part to get Bonnie to let her help research 'the item' Katherine was searching for. While she was getting somewhat more comfortable around the Salvatore brothers, Bonnie wasn't quite ready to allow them passage into her home. Aware of only one other person in Mystic Falls who might have any insight, Stefan and Damon headed to the High School for an impromptu meeting with one Alaric Saltzman.

In the Gilbert home, Jeremy was active in the kitchen, eating just about everything in sight to replenish his system. Having taken a well-deserved nap after her long night, Elena descended the stairs to find Jeremy working his way through what she only could have assumed to be his fourth sandwich. She slowed as she approached him and a smile formed on her lips; it was nice to see Jeremy simply being a teenager -being her brother- once again.

He finally looked up and acknowledged her, a slight look of shame on his face as he gorged himself, "Hey."

"How're you feeling?"

"Better," he replied.

She continued further into the kitchen and placed her hands on the island. For a moment she wished this were more awkward. Not more than a day ago had her father's fingers been cut off on this very island. She hated how easy it was to forget him. She pushed the thoughts aside, and chuckled lightly as she observed the scraps of ham, cheese, turkey, lettuce, tomato and bread that covered the island. Through her laugh she asked, "Hungry?"

"Starving," Jeremy replied with a mouthful of food.

"The doctor said you'd be hungry," Elena replied. Jeremy nodded and his eyes widened slightly in response as he shoveled the mammoth sandwich into his mouth. Elena's look of happiness on the other hand faded slightly as she prepped herself to pursue the conversation she knew they needed, "Jer…"

Just at the tone of her voice, his feast halted immediately and he locked eyes with her. Again with a mouthful of food he replied, "Yeah?"

"…I'm sorry," she finished. Jeremy looked away from his sister and for a moment, all of the lies replayed in his mind. Even weeks later, it was so much to process. The more he thought on it, the angrier he became, but in the end, he managed to keep calm. His eyes turned back to her and he could both see and hear how sorry she was, "I'm sorry for what I did; for what happened and for not telling you. I know it doesn't mean much now-"

"Now that I know everything?" Jeremy interrupted harshly.

"Yeah," Elena replied sheepishly. Immediately she wondered if merely bringing it up was a mistake. She pushed the thought aside and pushed through to get this off of her chest, "I swear, Jer; it'll never happen again. I want things to be the way they were between us. I want you to be able to talk to me."

Jeremy had forgiven her to some degree, but he couldn't let her off that easily, "I want things to be the way they were too." As her eyes looked to meet his, he continued, "But nothing will ever be the same, Elena. What happened between you and me; I'm ready to let go, but our lives, they'll never be the lives of any other kids our age. I'm crazy about Anna, and with this Katherine roaming the streets looking for who knows what, I've got a lot to think about."

Elena knew exactly what he was talking about and asked, "You're still thinking about turning?"

"And if I am?" Jeremy asked.

Elena hadn't quite sorted her feelings on the subject, but in that moment, she needed to nurture their relationship as best she could, "It's your decision, Jer." In this moment of vulnerability, one of her most well kept secrets slipped out, "I'd be a liar if I said I hadn't thought about it."

Jeremy's eyes immediately locked on her as he asked, "You've thought about turning?"

Elena pulled a stool from under the island and took a seat, "Being with a vampire, there's no way I couldn't have thought about it."

"What'd you come up with?"

"What do you mean?"

Jeremy chuckled slightly, "We might not always see eye-to-eye, but I know you, Elena. I'm sure you've weighed every pro and con, so what was it? What made you decide not to turn?"

"That's just it," Elena replied quietly.

"What's just it?"

Her eyes looked up to his again and her expression was a flat as it had ever been, "I never found a good enough reason not to."

Jeremy's expression told of his surprise. While he too had his reason for and against turning, he had no idea his sister felt the same way.

* * *

At the High School, Alaric Saltzman was at his desk grading papers when a light gust brought him to look up from his work. Stefan and Damon stood just before him, uninvited and unannounced as usual. While he didn't mind Stefan, Damon irked him to his core, and although they'd developed somewhat of a rapport these past few weeks, just as quickly as he'd looked up, Alaric turned back to his work and asked, "Something I can help you both with?"

"All of the research that you've done regarding this town; where do you keep it?" Stefan asked.

Without lifting pen from paper, he reached into a drawer on the left side of his desk and retrieved a rather thick and neatly wrapped portfolio. He placed it on his desktop with a thud, and still not offering them his complete attention asked, "Mind if I ask why?"

"The ring that Isobel gave you…" Damon replied calmly, finally garnering Alaric's attention, "…the witch who made it also made several other trinkets."

"Like the rings the both of you wear so you can walk around in the daylight," Rick replied looking a bit confused. "So?"

"Turns out, she made quite a few other pieces as well," Stefan replied.

"Such as?" Alaric asked as he leaned back in his seat.

"Anna-"

Alaric interrupted Damon, "The girl from Elena's house?"

Damon nodded and continued, "She's got a necklace that works just like your ring-"

"Only for vampires," Rick concluded.

"Only for _her_," Damon corrected. "Katherine's here, she's looking for something and we think it might be that necklace."

"And you think there might be something in here about it?" Alaric asked.

"We don't know," Stefan replied. "We know you've compiled a lot of research on this place, so if there was a good place for us to start looking-"

Alaric slid the portfolio forward as he interrupted Stefan, "Just be careful, some of those documents are-"

"As old as us?" Damon interrupted with a smile.

"Right," Alaric replied.

As Damon took the portfolio from Alaric's desk, Stefan commented as he and his brother walked to the door, "We'll bring it back in a few hours." Upon reaching the door, Stefan turned to Alaric and he could practically feel the vampire's eyes on him.

"What?" Alaric asked.

"In your research, you've seen and read about Katherine, right?" Stefan asked.

"Yeah," Alaric replied calmly, his tone indicative that he knew exactly how dangerous Katherine was.

"She's out there, and she looks exactly like Elena. If you see her, don't give her anything, don't tell her anything. We have no idea what she'll do," Stefan replied, receiving an understanding nod from Alaric.

* * *

At Bonnie's home, the witch sat opposite Anna, just as they had a few hours earlier. While she wasn't a fan of vampires in general, she knew Anna was different. She knew she had done things, terrible things and not long ago, but she also knew why she did those things. She wasn't on some random killing spree; she did what she needed to in order to get her mother back. Now on the coffee table that separated them, the very tome used to release Pearl, as well as the other tomb vampires lay open.

While Bonnie hadn't yet located the spell Emily had used on Anna's necklace towards the end of the Grimoir's pages, the book itself was full of spells, notes and amendments. Discerning each and every spell, its contents and purpose was a somewhat slow and difficult process. As she read through the liner notes, Bonnie commented, "So many of these are untested. It looks like she wrote down just about everything that came to mind." She chuckled slightly as she continued, "Here's one to banish solicitors."

"You mean like door-to-door salesmen?" Anna asked.

"Yeah," Bonnie replied. Feeling a bit light-hearted in the moment, Bonnie asked, "So you and Jeremy?" Anna blushed slightly, unsure of how to approach the subject of her relationship with Jeremy, with someone who openly disliked vampires. Her silence brought Bonnie to look up, "I heard what happened last night."

Anna looked quite ashamed of herself as she spoke, "He's been through so much. First his parents, then Vicki…" she looked up to meet Bonnie's judging eyes, "…have you ever been in love?" Bonnie offered no response and Anna continued, "You do anything and everything you can to make the person you love happy, and all they can ever do is look back at you with hollow eyes."

Bonnie remained calm and collected as she spoke, "If he turned; became what you are, he would still be who he is, Anna."

Anna's eyes filled with a thin sheet of tears as she attempted to defend what she had done, "He could have turned it off though. All of the things that make you hurt inside, you can shut them out like a switch."

"But the pain and feelings would still be there, he'd just be living a lie," Bonnie replied.

Anna's tears finally ran down her cheeks. She knew Bonnie was right, and still feeling ashamed of herself, Anna offered, "I'm sorry I-"

"You didn't feed him or slit his throat, Anna," Bonnie interrupted with a slight smile. "I understand why you did it. I'm not here to judge you, or tell you what you did is right or wrong."

Anna wiped her tears and commented, "Bet you didn't think vampires cried so much, huh?"

Bonnie looked up to Anna and offered her a smile, "It just means I was right in trusting you. You might be a vampire, but you're not like them."

Anna smiled slightly and replied, "Thanks."

As soon as Bonnie turned her attention back to the Grimoir, she froze as she read the page in front of her, "Whoa."

Anna's face instantly straightened out as she leaned forward and asked, "What, what is it?"

Reading down the page, Anna commented just as Bonnie had, "Whoa."

* * *

At Stefan's home, the Salvatore brothers were halfway through Alaric's research. Damon's phone vibrated on the table bringing Stefan to look away from his reading. Damon finished the line he was reading and answered the call, a wide and devilish grin on his face as he saw who was calling, "Hi, Bonnie."

Stefan rolled his eyes and turned back to his reading while Damon continued his conversation, "Are you sure?" His face told of his surprise as Bonnie continued to pass on her findings to him. He checked his watch and replied, "Right, we'll meet you at Elena's…" Stefan cleared his throat and Damon addressed his brother's gesture, "…I'm sorry; we'll meet you at Stefan's girlfriend's place."

Damon clicked the 'end' button and re-stacked the pages he had gone through. Taking notice of his actions, Stefan asked, "What's going on?"

"Bonnie found it," Damon replied simply.

"The 'item' Katherine is looking for?" Stefan asked.

"Not quite," Damon replied as he stood and slipped his coat on. "C'mon, let's get this stuff back to Rick and go to your "lady friend's" house."

"Damon-"

Knowing full well that he was absolutely the jerk here, Damon interrupted his brother, "Hey it's cool, I get it. Elena's yours, and I'm a jerk. Now can we go?"

Stefan smiled slightly and nodded in agreement.

* * *

Night fell on Mystic Falls just as Alaric packed the last of his things in his classroom. Again Damon and Stefan just so happened to 'appear' before the teacher, not startling nor interrupting what he was doing in the least.

Stefan delicately placed the portfolio on Alaric's desk and the teacher asked, "You two find what you were looking for?"

A slight smell of cologne permeated the air, though to Damon and Stefan, the smell couldn't have been any more apparent. While Stefan of course kept his manners, Damon took a blatant sniff while Stefan replied, "Bonnie found it at her-"

"Are you wearing cologne?" Damon interrupted.

"Yes," Alaric replied; his best 'what-do-you-care' look present and accounted for.

"Big night?" Damon replied with a smile.

"Not that it's any of your business, but Jenna asked me to dinner," Alaric replied. "She wanted to thank me for being there for her this morning."

Stefan looked away, knowing that if he had attempted to interrupt his brother, it might have only made him more obnoxious. Damon slowly approached Alaric's desk as he quietly continued with a wide smile, "I'll bet she did."

"Damon?" Stefan asked calmly, bringing Damon to turn to face him. "If you're done being you, can we get to Elena's?"

Damon walked around Alaric's desk and gently nudged him with his elbow as he whispered, "Get her once for me, alright?"

"Please leave," Alaric replied nonchalantly.

Truth be told, Alaric Saltzman hated Damon Salvatore. All that Damon had put him through, how he rubbed his relations with Alaric's wife right in his face, not to mention the fact that Damon _did_ try to kill him. Still, as much of a jerk as he was, what troubled Alaric the most about Damon was the fact that he was one of the good guys.

* * *

Jenna Sommers emerged from the Mystic Grille as she so often had; just a little tipsy. As she turned the corner, she nearly crashed right into Katherine in the midst of her own confident stride towards the grille.

"Elena," Jenna greeted.

Caught off guard by Jenna's greeting, Katherine immediately seized this opportunity and casually replied, "Hey."

"Going to the Grille?" Jenna asked.

"Yeah…" Katherine replied with a slight hesitation, "…I'm meeting Stefan in a little while."

"Is everything okay between you two?" Jenna asked.

Immediately bored, Katherine struggled to continue the conversation, "Yeah everything's fine. Look I really have to-"

"You know you can talk to me, right?" Jenna replied.

Katherine smiled ever so slightly as she replied, "Yeah sure." Jenna acknowledged her with a nod and Katherine pried, "So where are you off to?"

Jenna's smile widened as she replied, "Alaric's. We're having dinner. Sort of like a 'thank you' date?"

"Oh…" the gears turned so quickly and easily. Katherine smiled and nodded, "…well, have fun."

"Thanks, you too," Jenna replied. As they walked away from one another, Katherine's smile instantly flattened and Jenna called back to her, "Elena?"

Katherine paused looking most frustrated and once again conjured a slight smile before turning to face Jenna, "Yeah?"

"Be careful," Jenna replied.

"You too," Katherine replied.

* * *

Shortly after she had hung up with Damon, Bonnie and Anna arrived at Elena and Jeremy's home. While Elena and Bonnie sat in the living room getting caught up on things, Anna and Jeremy occupied Jeremy's bedroom. Now that Jeremy was just about back to normal, the happy couple had quite a bit of intimacy to catch up on. They lay on their sides on Jeremy's bed, their lips engaged in a series of short and playful kisses.

Giving Jeremy a breather, Anna pulled away and commented, "It's good to have you back to normal."

Jeremy leaned to her and placed a kiss on her lips before replying with a smile, "It's good to be back." During the time short times he spent away from Anna, Jeremy's thoughts were only of her. His curiosity over potentially becoming a vampire was eating away at him.

Anna immediately noticed he had something on his mind and asked, "Is everything alright?"

Jeremy smiled and replied, "Yeah, I just…" he organized his thoughts and continued, "…I'm crazy about you, Anna. I'd love to spend forever with you, but I…" again he paused, "…I _so_ don't want to screw up what we-"

Anna placed a finger to his lips, silencing him as she spoke, "It's alright. I'm glad you're still thinking about it, but it's something you never have to do for me to stay with you, Jeremy." Jeremy smiled and looked away slightly as Anna continued, "When and if you're ready, that's great; and if you're never ready, I'm still going to be here for you."

Their smiles met again and as they pulled apart, Jeremy asked, "Even when I'm forty and you still look eighteen?"

Anna chuckled as she replied, "I won't care, but anyone who sees us together is going to think you're a creep."

"What about when I'm sixty or seventy?" Jeremy asked.

Anna laughed as she spoke, "Alright well you know how I said 'when and if you're ready'? We might want to cap that at about thirty."

Jeremy laughed before bringing their smiles to meet again, "Deal."

* * *

Jenna ascended the stairs to Alaric's home using the rail for balance. _"No more vodka tonics,"_ she thought. She paused at the door, and a smile came across her face. She bit her lip slightly and knocked at the door. Within a few seconds, Alaric opened the door and grinned at the sight of Jenna, "Hey."

"Hey," Jenna replied with a smile.

Before they could say another word to each other, Katherine appeared behind Jenna and wrapped an arm around her throat.

"Elena?" Jenna shouted.

"Shut up," Katherine ordered as she tightened her hold on Jenna.

Alaric immediately raised his hand and begged, "Wait! Please don't hurt her!"

"I won't, so long as you do as I ask," Katherine replied.

"What do you want?" Alaric asked.

"First you're going to invite me in," Katherine replied.

"Over my dead body."

"No, over hers," Katherine replied before violently sinking her teeth into Jenna's neck, eliciting a wrenching scream from Elena's aunt.

"NO! Alright! Stop!" Alaric roared. Katherine withdrew her teeth and awaited her invitation, "Come in."

Katherine slowly walked a whimpering Jenna to the door but before crossing the threshold, ordered Alaric, "Your ring, take it off." As he attempted to speak, Katherine tugged on Jenna's throat causing her to cry out again. With no choices that didn't end with Jenna's death left, he slipped his ring off and placed it on a table beside the door. "Good, now back away."

Alaric raised his hands and took a few steps back as he was told. As they crossed the threshold, Katherine ordered Jenna, "Pick up the ring." Jenna quickly gathered the ring into her hand and Katherine continued, "Put it on." Jenna slipped the ring on and Katherine finally finished her thought, "Good girl." Katherine let go of Jenna only to push her face first into a wall knocking her unconscious.

Before Alaric could even react, Katherine dashed over to him and slammed his head against the wall, knocking him out as well. As she looked on the mess she made, she commented, "Now for the real fun."

She stepped to the front door and closed it behind her.

* * *

At Elena's home, the group had finally gathered to discuss Bonnie's findings. Stefan obviously sat beside Elena, Anna by Jeremy, and Damon and Bonnie opposite one another.

"So she _is_ looking for Anna's necklace?" Damon asked.

"Sort of," Bonnie replied.

"Sort of?" Stefan asked.

"Katherine knows a spell was cast on an object, but Emily never made notes regarding the objects she enchanted. That and we found something else as well," Bonnie replied.

"Something else, like what?" Stefan asked.

Bonnie sighed lightly and began to explain, "Emily's notes throughout the Grimoir are incredibly difficult to follow. On the same page I found the spell she used on Anna's necklace, Emily made a note of this so called 'great achievement' Katherine mentioned." Bonnie smiled at the simplicity of it as she continued, "It's easily the most useful spell in the book, and she relegated it to a liner note. Whether or not she just looked at the page too quickly or didn't understand what she was reading, the spell _is_ on the same page as the necklace, but it's _not_ the necklace."

"So if this 'great achievement' of Emily's isn't Anna's necklace, what is it?" Elena asked.

Tired of the waiting game, Anna finally spoke up, "It's a spell to turn a vampire back into a human."

Absolute silence fell on the room. This was completely unprecedented as to what it could mean. Stefan and Elena, Anna and Jeremy, they could all grow old together if they wished.

"Is that really possible?" Damon asked.

"Just about anything is possible with the right amount of magic. But…" that single word floated in the room like the worst news in the world, "…Emily made a few notes beneath the spell concerning its possible after effects."

"After effects?" Stefan asked.

Bonnie explained, "Depending on the sort of life the enchanted vampire led, they could be driven mad almost immediately."

"So because I've killed hundreds of people…" Bonnie cringed slightly as Damon reminded her of the sort of person he once was, "…my conscience would rip me apart if I became a human again."

"She never used the spell. It's untested and unproven, but it is possible," Bonnie replied.

Just as a silence fell on the room once again, Elena's phone rang. She checked the caller ID and addressed the group as she stood from the couch, "It's Jenna, I'll be right back." She received a slight nod from Stefan and answered the call, "Hello?"

"_Hello Elena,"_ Katherine replied sadistically. Damon, Stefan, and Anna all turned to Elena at hearing Katherine on the other end of the call. Elena's face had instantly paled while Katherine continued, _"I know the vampires can hear me, but why don't you put me down where little Jeremy and the witch can here me too?"_

Elena walked back into the room to a sea of concerned faces. She clicked her phone on speaker and placed it on the coffee table.

"_As Elena's guessed by now, I have her aunt. She's alive and aside from a slight neck wound, she's fine for now."_

"What do you want?" Stefan asked with a slight demanding tone in his voice.

"_I want what Emily made for Pearl. I'm sure all of you want me gone, so I'm also quite sure you've been trying to find it for me,"_ Katherine replied.

"You don't even know what it is," Damon replied snidely. "How do you even know that you want it?"

"_I might not be a witch but I do know how to read, Damon," _Katherine replied. _"A spell that can render a vampire invulnerable…"_ the group shared a collective look. The plan couldn't have been any clearer as she spoke, _"…is something I'm most certainly interested in."_

"We haven't found anything yet," Bonnie replied.

"_In that case I suggest you look harder," _Katherine replied. _"I've also got the school teacher. I've put his ring on Jenna's hand, so you can be rest assured that Mrs. Sommers will live. The teacher's life is also assured as he's a part of my little game."_

"Game?" Damon asked.

"_Speak up kids,"_ Katherine ordered of her two bound guests.

"_Elena! Jeremy!"_ Jenna shouted.

"Rick?" Damon called.

"_Yeah I'm here,"_ Alaric replied.

Katherine brought the phone to her ear once again and concluded their conversation, _"They're sitting just apart from each other, and in one hour, I'm going to break Mrs. Sommers' neck." _The look of horror on everyone's face was virtually immeasurable as Katherine continued, _"Every fifteen minutes after that, I'm going to do it again. Now let me ask all of you; how many times do you think he'll be able to watch me kill the woman he loves before he goes insane?"_

"You bi-" Jeremy began only for Anna to grip his leg, silencing him before he could complete his remark. As he turned to her, she shook her head 'no' wearing a remarkable look of sadness.

"Where are you?" Stefan asked urgently.

"_When you've found something, have Elena call me back to discuss an exchange,"_ Katherine instructed. _"Until then; tick, tock, tick, tock…"_

_

* * *

_

_And that's all for this one. If you made it this far, I hope you enjoyed it :)_

_I've got some work ahead of me in regards to where I go with the next chapter. Hopefully I can sort things out and get it done._

_Again, a very big thank you to my reviewers :) I hope this chapter was worth the wait :)_

_Until next time,  
-jm_


	5. Chapter 5

_Once I got started on this chapter, it went pretty quickly. I said in the summary that I was going to be disrupting the Mystic Falls status quo and in this chapter, you can consider it not so much disrupted, as ripped to pieces._

_I figure, this story has to end somewhere, and while this won't be the last chapter (1, perhaps 2 to go), from here on out, things are different for these characters._

_Again, I thank my reviewers and those who are following this story for their support. As usual, my confidence is lacking, I just hope it's me being me :( _

* * *

Elena picked her phone off the table and took her seat beside Stefan. The room was completely still; the drop of a pin could have been heard clear as day, when finally, Damon broke the silence, "Who wants to hear my idea?" While no one spoke, everyone immediately turned to face him and again after a brief silence, he continued, "Alright then, I'll just talk and if anyone feels like chiming in; go for it. Stefan and I bring Anna's necklace to Katherine, give it to her, and when she thinks she's invulnerable, we stake her and we're done; like I said, 'wham bam, thank you ma'am'."

Anna shook her head and replied, "That won't work."

"Why not?" Damon asked.

"Because if she asks you to prove that it works, just what are you planning on doing?" Anna asked. Stefan and Damon shared a glance while Anna continued, "She might not have been bright enough to figure out the Grimoir, but she's not that stupid. We tell her we've got what she's looking for and she's going to want proof before she lets them go."

"Even if we give her the necklace, this is nothing more than a game to her," Stefan replied. "There's no way we can guarantee she won't just kill them anyway. She's stronger and faster than any of us. If she makes a move, there's nothing any of us could do to stop her."

Elena's eyes filled with tear as Bonnie asked, "What about magic?"

"What do you mean?" Elena asked with glass covered eyes.

"The spell to turn a vampire into a human," Bonnie replied. "I'd have to speak it aloud, but if I can get the whole thing out in time-"

"She'll kill you," Damon interrupted. "As soon as she sees you, or hears your voice, she'll kill you _and_ she'll kill them."

"What if _I_ gave her the necklace?" Anna interjected, immediately garnering a look of concern from Jeremy.

"And leave yourself vulnerable?" Jeremy replied, "Not a chance."

"I'm a big girl and we're running out of options, Jer," Anna replied.

"I don't care, I-"

Jeremy was interrupted as Damon turned to Bonnie and asked, "At your place, you were able to hold her, right?" A slight smile formed on Bonnie's lips; she had an idea where he was going with this and he continued, "Do you think you can hold her, _and_ do that spell?"

"I've never tried anything like that, but in theory it could work," Bonnie replied.

Elena struggled to remain calm as she addressed her friend, "It's a good idea, but we can't trust this to a theory."

"Try it on me," Damon replied, instantly bringing everyone in the room to drop their jaw.

"What?" Elena asked.

Damon couldn't have been more nonchalant as he spoke, "You know that me turning was Stefan's idea in the first place…" Stefan glared at his brother as he continued, "…besides, I've got friends in high places all over this town and if I'm human, I don't have anything to worry about."

"And what about the potential to be driven mad; did you forget about that?" Stefan asked. "What if we need you when we meet with her?"

"If you've got a better idea we're all ears, brother," Damon replied silencing Stefan and putting an end to any doubt over how serious he was about this. "If Bonnie can do this, then this gets a whole lot simpler."

"But, Damon-"

He interrupted Elena, almost looking bored of waiting, "If I go nuts, knock me over the head and have one of them turn me again."

"This is just a game for you too, isn't it?" Stefan asked, taking his brother's actions as nothing more than showboating.

"No, this is the best idea we've got and it could work," Damon barked. "Like I said, if you've got something better, we'd all love to hear it."

As Stefan and Damon trailed off bickering, Jeremy finally spoke up, "This only works if Bonnie can get to her without her killing everyone first. Even if this works, how are you going to get to her?"

Elena checked the time and last call on her phone; thirty minutes.

* * *

Katherine casually strolled through Alaric's home. Taking and looking as she pleased while she awaited Elena's call. In the living area, Alaric and Jenna remained bound to their chairs. Alaric kept a discreet eye on the clock, growing more uncomfortable by the second.

Jenna had finally stopped crying, though her face was beet red as she asked, "What the hell is going on? "Why is Elena-?"

"She's not Elena," Alaric replied.

"But how…" Jenna got lost in her thoughts for a moment before continuing, "…she looks-"

"I know, but believe me when I tell you, that is _not_ her."

"She bit me, why did she bite me?" Jenna asked.

"Jenna…" Alaric began only to stop himself. She'd been in the dark long enough, and though he'd have loved to keep it that way, it was far too late, "…she's a vampire."

Jenna's expression barely shifted to one of disbelief as she asked, "What?"

"She's a vampire," Alaric replied. "Right now, she can hear every word we're saying, every breath we take, she can-"

"Hear your hearts as they beat in your chests," Katherine interrupted with a smile as she rejoined her pawns.

"But how is that possible?" Jenna asked.

Katherine knelt before Elena's bound aunt. The whites of her eyes filled with blood, and her face changed accordingly as she replied, "You truly are an annoying human." Jenna's eyes widened in fear as Katherine let out a slight growl, sure to reveal just enough of her fangs to terrify Jenna even further.

Tears once again ran down Jenna's cheeks as she asked, "Why are you doing this?"

Katherine smiled and seductively ran her hand up Jenna's bare calf as she replied, "Because it's fun, and because your niece and her little friends are the only ones who can help me find what I'm looking for."

"So you're having a couple of kids do your dirty work?" Alaric asked in an effort to get Katherine's attention off of Jenna.

Katherine stood and turned to face Alaric, her face still in its vampire state as she raised and placed her foot atop one of his knees. She rested her elbow on her knee and her chin in her palm as she spoke, "Yeah; shame on me, right?"

"No, that's about what I expected from what I know of you," Alaric replied in casual disgust.

"Really?" Katherine asked as she carefully straddled Alaric's lap, "What else do you know about me?"

Alaric pulled himself as far away from her as he could, "I know you're older than the Salvatore's by more than a couple years."

"Mmmm…" Katherine purred in an effort to rile Jenna. She wrapped an arm behind his neck and enticingly ran her thumb down his lips as she continued, "Tell me more about me."

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Bonnie asked as she stood opposite Damon in the living area of Elena's home. Over these past couple weeks, after all she'd been through in the passing of her grandmother, Bonnie thought she knew Damon Salvatore. Yet as he stood before her, fully prepared to give himself to an entirely selfless act, she truly realized she had no idea who he was.

While Damon nodded, he himself couldn't have been any more unsure of his actions and he couldn't allow himself to be; he simply needed to go through with it. Elena again checked her watch, just as Bonnie raised her hands; fifteen minutes. Just before the witch spoke, Elena called out to Stefan's brother, "Damon…" All eyes were on her as she spoke, "…you don't have to do this. We can find another way."

Damon smiled slightly as he replied, "I don't see Anna or my brother volunteering for this little experiment."

While Anna and Stefan seemed to bow their heads in shame, Elena exclaimed, "We can find a way without having to do this to any of you!"

"How much time is left, Elena?" Damon asked. When she failed to reply, he turned his gaze back to Bonnie and ordered her as politely as he could, "Go for it."

"Damon…" Stefan began, gathering Damon's attention and once again interrupting the spell. He felt insurmountable guilt over what he'd done to Damon so many years ago and now, there couldn't have been a more perfect time for an apology, "…I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Damon smiled that unsettling and confident smile of his as he finished his thought, "It's been a hell of a ride, brother."

When his eyes were back on her, Bonnie waited for no permissions. She knew time was running out and immediately began the spells. Almost instantly, the first of the spells took hold, sending Damon's hands crashing onto his ears in agony. Elena would be the one to flinch at the sight of Damon in extreme pain. As he cried out, he fell to his side and managed to break a few words free, "Whenever…you're…ready…with…that…other…spell!"

The tone of Bonnie's voice changed, becoming more powerful and commanding as the magic overtook her. A feint aura of white light emanated from Damon's form as the pitch and volume of his screams elevated. Elena's hand rose to cover her mouth as her tears ran harder still at what she was witnessing. It took mere seconds for Bonnie to complete the spell, and at speaking her last word, a light stream of blood poured from the witch's nose, and her eyes closed as she fell to the floor. Elena immediately rushed to tend to her friend while Stefan ran to his brother.

"Damon?" Stefan asked as he helped his brother's shivering form upright. When Damon's eyes locked on Stefan, he knew the spell had worked. Damon's eyes were full of color once again and his shivering had begun to slow.

Bonnie's eyes fluttered opened and Elena asked, "Are you alright?"

As she lay on the floor of Elena's home, the witch's eyes were not on her friend, but on the former vampire just a few feet in front of her. "Did it work?" She asked as Damon's eyes met hers.

Damon was cold and clearly suffering the effects Emily had warned of. As he fought through the mental anguish, he managed to reply, "It worked."

Elena checked her watch and before standing, asked her friend, "Are you alright, Bonnie?"

"I'll be fine," Bonnie assured her friend. "Go, make the call."

* * *

Much to Jenna's dismay, Katherine was still toying with Alaric. "You should have seen what I did to them," Katherine laughed, bragging about a group of men she had seduced and drank dry, as though Alaric might find it impressive. He maintained a contrived, yet moderately entertained expression as Jenna's phone rang on his coffee table. Katherine finally stood from Alaric's lap and answered the phone, "Right on time. So do you have what I want?"

"_We've got it,"_ Elena replied. _"But before we give it to you, I have some rules."_

Katherine simply laughed, louder and louder. Of course she knew Elena was holding an ace, she still felt it necessary to unsettle the confident young girl as greatly as she could. "And what rules might those be?"

"_Anna and I will make the exchange,"_ Elena replied.

"So far so good," Katherine replied.

"_I want to see my aunt and Alaric at the exchange. If anything happens to them, I destroy the necklace."_

"So it's a necklace," Katherine replied.

"_Yeah, and it was around Anna's neck when you saw her earlier," _Katherine's arrogant smile fell flat as Elena continued. _"Had you been a little smarter you could have had it hours ago."_

"You cocky little bitch," Katherine scolded. "I could kill them both and-"

"_And what?"_ Elena interrupted arrogantly, further enraging Katherine. _"You kill them, I destroy the necklace and we get every last vampire hunter in this town after you."_

Katherine was good. She was older, faster, stronger, and most certainly more insane than any vampire Mystic Falls had ever known. She probably could have dealt with a good number of the hunters, but in the end, she knew how this would end for her. She swallowed her pride for a moment and replied, "Don't you have things figured out?"

"_Yes…"_ Elena replied with the supreme confidence, someone holding all the cards should have, _"…I do."_

"When and where?" Katherine asked.

"_My house, ten minutes,"_ Elena replied. _"If I don't see them before I see you, the necklace is destroyed."_

Katherine wanted to reach her hands through the phone and slowly strangle the life out of Elena. Unfortunately, she knew how this had to play out to get what she wanted and replied accordingly, "Ten minutes. I see the witch, the Salvatore's or anyone other than Annabelle, and you can do what you like with the necklace. I'll kill the teacher and I'll make _you_ watch as I kill your aunt for days."

Elena simply ended the call and Katherine threw Jenna's Blackberry against a wall of Alaric's home, shattering it completely. She strolled over to Jenna who looked more terrified than ever and commented, "That niece of yours has spunk. But what she doesn't know…"

Katherine grabbed a hold of Jenna's neck and immediately she begged with tear soaked cheeks, "Please-"

"Don't!" Alaric shouted, though nothing was going to stop Katherine from getting out her anger. She snapped Jenna's neck and her head slumped lifelessly to its side.

"…won't hurt her." Katherine finished. She stepped to Alaric who was now writhing and incoherently barking obscenities at her and forced her hand to his mouth to silence him. As he continued to scream at her, she calmly spoke over his muffled cries, "Relax. If this falls through, your death will at least be fast."

Jenna's head twitched and her neck cracked and creaked as life returned to her. As her neck straightened out, her pain finally manifested audibly. Distracted for a moment, Alaric bit Katherine's finger, which quickly brought her attention back to him. She smiled slightly as she observed this desperate attempt of a human to cause her pain. She pulled her hand from his lips and slapped him across the face with her bloody palm, leaving red trails where her four fingers struck his face.

* * *

At Elena's house, Anna and Jeremy sat on his bed, facing one another. Jeremy was terrified for her. If any one part of this plan didn't play out perfectly, he could lose her again, and this time it could be real. She saw how badly he was hurting as he sat silent, his face turned down and away from her. She delicately raised her fingers to his chin and lifted his eyes to meet her. Just as she could see the tears in his eyes, he could see them in hers. He knew she was every bit as worried as him.

Her fingers ran down the side of his face as she quietly spoke, "I'll be right back, okay?"

"Promise?" Jeremy asked.

Anna leaned to him and placed a kiss on his lips. His hands found her face, holding her to him, affirming his love for her through his gentle embrace. As she pulled away from him, she replied, "Promise."

Anna stood from Jeremy's bed and with nothing more than a glance, slowly closed the door behind her. By the time she had reached the living area, she had calmed her nerves. Her cheeks were dry, and their typical pale tone as she came to Elena in the kitchen. She stood at the spot she had found her father in just a few hours earlier. She could barely even comprehend the hatred she harbored for him, yet still she mourned him. In the end, the fact remained that he was her father.

Clearly aware of Elena's silent moment, Anna quietly asked, "Are you alright?"

Elena snapped out of her trance and looked up to Anna. She collected her thoughts and replied, "I just wish I could have had the chance to make things right between us." She looked back down to the floor of the kitchen and continued, "For him to see that there's more to your kind than he ever could have known."

"I know it's not my place, Elena. I can only imagine what you think of me, but…" she searched for the right words, "…if you knew this place as it was all those years ago, you would know that nothing, not even what Damon did here tonight would have changed his opinion."

Elena spent the last of her tears and replied, "I could have tried."

Stefan stepped into the room and asked, "Are you both ready?"

Anna and Elena shared a glance and Elena nodded in reply, "Yeah, we're good."

Stefan shot Anna a brief, but telling look and Anna left the room. Stefan turned to Elena and gently placed his hands on her shoulders. He lowered his lips to hers as she wrapped her arms around him. After a short but warm kiss, Stefan pulled away and attempted to settle Elena's nerves, "This will all be over in just a few minutes. No matter what she says, remember to keep calm." Stefan's head perked up and he turned back to Elena, "She'll be here any minute."

"Go," Elena replied before standing on her toes to give him one last kiss. Without another word, Stefan hastily made his way to Elena's room to join Damon who was still adjusting to being human.

With the last of the group gone from view, Elena turned to Anna and this time, she would be the one to ask, "Are you ready?"

Anna turned back to Elena, nodded and they headed through to the front door to wait for Katherine. Elena went through the plan over and over again in her mind. She tried to simplify it to herself; just a series of events that had to play out in a certain order to achieve a specific result. Through the decorative glass panels in the front door, Elena caught her first glimpse of Alaric and Jenna. They were unrestrained, and as per her agreement with Katherine, they were seen before her doppelganger.

As they got closer, Elena could see Katherine following closely behind them. Through the glass, Katherine's eyes met Elena's and whether in fear, or confidence, Elena's gaze failed to waver. She opened the door as the approached, revealing Jenna in a state of complete shock. Her skin was pale and as she closed in on Elena, she asked, "Are you alright?"

Jenna merely nodded with a look of terror on her face. Elena turned to Alaric and again asked, "You?"

He nodded as well and finally Katherine spoke, "You two, move."

From the top of the stairs, Bonnie stood with her back to the wall carefully listening in, waiting for just the right moment.

"What are you doing?" Elena asked as Jenna and Alaric parted for Katherine.

Bonnie peaked out around the corner to see that Jenna and Alaric were out of Elena's reach. She turned back before she could be seen and struggled to keep her words to herself, though her expression told of her disappointment.

Katherine reached behind her to retrieve a simple wooden stake. Elena watched as Katherine's hand moved, almost in slow motion as she tossed the stake to her. Had she swung her hand just a bit further and tapped the threshold, the plan could have ended right there. Fortunately, Elena caught the stake and again Bonnie peaked around the corner.

"What is-"

"That my necklace?" Katherine interrupted, her eyes deadlocked on the charm around Anna's neck.

"Yes," Anna replied, her fingers rising to the necklace.

"Good," Katherine replied. She turned her attention to Elena and ordered, "Stake her."

"What?" Elena asked.

"Drive that stake through her heart," Katherine slowly ordered, sure to give every word teeth. "When she wakes up, you can have them back."

Elena looked down at the stake, then back to Katherine, "I'm not going to stake her."

Katherine reached to her right and grabbed a hold of Jenna. She again wrapped an arm around her throat and immediately, Alaric attempted to assume the role of the hero. He moved as swiftly as he could but Katherine was far too fast for him. Before he even knew what had hit him, he was on the ground with Katherine's foot on his throat. As she looked up to Elena, her face once again shifted to its vampire state and she spoke, "This only goes one way, Elena. Stake her, or I'll drain your aunt dry."

Elena slowly turned to Anna. While she could completely believe what Katherine had asked her to do, she had forgotten that this might come up. Before Elena could speak, Anna spoke for her, "It's alright."

"I'm-"

Just as she attempted to offer her an apology for what she was to do, Anna reached out and pulled the stake into her chest. Elena quickly withdrew her hand and Anna proceeded to fall to the floor. Elena hastily knelt beside her and as her hands flew to remove the stake, Katherine barked, "Leave it!"

Anna looked to Elena and as she faded, offered her the most comfort she could, "It's…" She winced in pain as she spoke, "…alright."

As Anna's head fell to her side, Elena's eyes immediately filled with tears. The following moments seemed to last forever. Katherine smiled as she waited, listening to the musical pounding of Elena's heart as she wept over Anna's still form. She looked on Anna's lifeless body while a single thought ran through her mind over and over again, _"Please wake up."_

Katherine's smile grew wider as she tightened her grip on Jenna's throat, "Looks like I'll-"

She was interrupted as Anna cried out. Her eyes shattered open like broken windows and she pushed herself upright, violently choking through her tears. She was alive once again, and the pain was even worse than she remembered. As she pulled the stake from her chest, Katherine's eyes widened in amazement, "It really does work."

"Are you alright?" Elena asked Anna. The vampire nodded as she collected herself and Elena stood to face her likeness. This time she would be the one to order, "Let them go and it's yours."

As Katherine slowly turned to Jenna, Elena was practically choking on her heart. Finally, Katherine pushed Jenna through the doorway and lifted her foot from Alaric's throat. As he rolled away from her, it was time.

As Jenna fell into Elena's arms, she shouted, "Now!"

By the time Katherine had looked up, Bonnie turned the corner and began the spell. While one of Katherine's hands flew to her temple in pain, the other reached out towards Elena only to crash into the threshold. By the time Bonnie had reached the ground level, Katherine was on her knees and the final element of the spell began. Again Bonnie's tone shifted as the power of Emily's spell coursed through her. Katherine was surrounded by light, just as Damon had been and in seconds the spell was finished, though this time, Bonnie managed to catch herself.

As Katherine lay on the porch shivering, Anna asked, "Did it work?"

Elena turned to her shaken aunt and asked, "Are you alright?" Jenna weakly nodded in reply and Elena turned to her friend, "Bonnie?" Bonnie too nodded in reply and finally, Elena stepped outside the threshold. She approached Alaric and asked, "Mr. Saltzman?"

"I'm fine," Alaric replied as he tended to his throat. "What did you do to her?"

"She's human," Elena replied.

Just then, a look of panic washed over Alaric as he and multiple other voices from inside the house called out, "Elena!"

Just as Elena turned, Katherine was but inches in front of her. Before she could heed any of the warnings she had received, Katherine plunged a blade into Elena's chest, directly into her heart.

* * *

_And that's all for this one. If you made it this far, I hope you enjoyed it :)_

_Unlike the previous chapter, I've got a pretty good idea where I'm going in the next chapter ;)_

_Again, a very big thank you to my reviewers. Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter :)_

_Till next time,_  
_-jm _


	6. Chapter 6

_This [final] chapter didn't take too long to draft, but when I went over it, some parts seemed to require a lot of reworking, hence why it took so long to finish._

_While it may be sad for some, joyous for others, this is the last chapter of this fic. I may follow it up one day, but for now, I really do need that break I was hoping for 5 chapters ago ;)_

_Of course my confidence is zero, especially with what I started in the last chapter. Hopefully it's just me being me._

* * *

She was so close to making it through the plan without a hitch. Katherine was for all intensive purposes defanged and Jenna and Alaric were safe. Unfortunately, something no one had considered of Emily's spell were the effects of becoming human, should the individual simply be obscene to their core. Elena's eyes slowly turned towards the blade Katherine held firmly in her chest. When she looked back up, her failing body choked up a thick wad of blood onto Katherine's smiling face.

Elena fell back onto Alaric who tried his best to cushion her fall. He laid her convulsing body flat on the patio just as Bonnie finally made it around the corner of the door. At the sight of blood on her friend, Bonnie screamed, "STEFAN!"

In an instant, Stefan was on the patio. As he observed Elena's fading form, his face changed and without a second thought, he snapped Katherine's neck, so violently that he had nearly ripped her head clean from her shoulders. As he pushed Katherine's limp body through the doorway, Damon and Jeremy finally came out onto the patio, and in near unison spoke, "Elena…"

Stefan knelt at her side as she continued to choke up blood, while a weakened Bonnie, Jenna and Anna finally made it onto to the deck. Immediately, their hands covered their mouths at the sight of her. Elena's face and blouse were soaked with blood, and her lungs desperately and rapidly tried to pump oxygen into her system.

Through the various cries and hollow pleas of Elena's family and friends, Stefan gently tended to her and spoke, "Elena?"

With the amount of blood on her, every one of them knew she didn't have long. No ambulance would ever make it to her in time, and even if one had, there would be little that could be done to help her. Finally, Jeremy would be the one to say what was on everyone's mind, "Turn her!" Stefan immediately shot him a glare, to which he barked in reply, "If she dies now she's _really_ dead!"

1 minute

As Stefan observed her gasping lips, he knew she could barely breathe let alone give him an answer. He turned to Bonnie and Jenna, the expression on his face clearly in search of their permission. Bonnie knew that her friend was going to die right now; either by her wounds, or by becoming a vampire. If she succumbed to her wounds, Elena would be gone, but if she were a vampire, she could go on with her life, almost as though nothing had ever happened. While she wasn't thrilled with her decision, her choice was clear as she nodded. Jenna unfortunately was far too broken to offer any sort of insight, and they were running out of time.

Stefan bit his wrist and forced the wound to Elena's panting lips. While Stefan's blood funneled its way into her system, she choked and tried to push him away as she struggled to speak, "Stefan, I-"

"Don't talk," Stefan begged as he placed his wrist over her mouth once again. "You have to drink, Elena."

"I love you, Stefan," Elena weakly replied before her eyes fluttered closed and her breathing ceased.

Jenna was in hysterics when she finally regained a hint of control. Tears poured down her cheeks and she managed to break a word from her lips, "No…"

While nearly everyone wore a look of great concern, Damon looked decidedly more relaxed as he spoke, "Wait." Everyone's eyes immediately turned to him; his vigil on Elena's still form was completely focused as he shouted in his thoughts, almost as though to will her to life, _"Wake up!"_

2 minutes

Anna took Jeremy's hand into hers as his head bowed slightly. Just as they had all but given up hope, Elena's eyes shattered open and she again choked up blood. There was a collective gasp from the group as she regained consciousness. Immediately Stefan reached down to the blade which was still lodged in her chest and pulled it free. A light spray of blood splashed onto his face as Elena yelped in pain.

Stefan placed a hand on Elena's face, bringing her eyes to meet his as he asked, "Are you alright?"

Elena's head shook back and forth as she replied, her voice much clearer than it had been just a few seconds ago, "What's going on, Stefan?"

Through the din of silence, Damon slowly approached them and knelt beside her. Stefan and Elena watched as Damon picked up the blade that had taken her life and ran it across the palm of his hand.

"What are you-"

Damon interrupted her, "You need to drink human blood for the transformation to take."

Elena's eyes turned to Stefan and he offered her a nod. With dozens of questions on her mind, her actions calmed as she asked the most basic, "Am I…" She knew she might say it some day, she just hadn't expected it to be so soon, "…dead?"

Again Stefan nodded and replied, "You have until sunrise to feed on human blood, or-"

"Or what?" Elena interrupted.

"Or you'll be the other kind of dead," Damon replied.

Elena turned back to Damon and he lowered his hand to her lips. Still too weak to move, he positioned his hand above her lips and squeezed the wound. He cringed in pain as his blood flowed, and after she drank but a few drops, Elena's eyes briefly filled with blood; she was a vampire.

Damon withdrew his hand and slowly, Elena pushed herself upright. As her eyes met Bonnie's, the witch asked, "Are you alright?"

Knowing she had changed, turned into one of the creatures Bonnie hated so greatly, tears formed in Elena's eyes as she spoke, "I'm so sorry, Bonnie."

All it took were those four little words. Bonnie knew Elena would never become some murderous monster; she would simply be her friend as she had always been. The witch smiled slightly in an effort to offer her friend comfort and replied, "I'll take you anyway I can get you, Elena."

Just as Elena offered her friend a smile in return, Damon lifted her hand from the deck. He slipped his ring onto her finger and offered, "I won't be needing this anymore."

Damon's trademark grin passed over his lips and with a slight smile of her own, Elena asked, "Are you alright?"

"What good is it going to do me now that-"

Elena interrupted him, "I meant are _you_ okay?"

Much to Stefan's dismay, Damon grinned flirtatiously at Elena, "I might not be a vampire, but I've always been a jerk; I'll get by,"

Elena gave him a hug as she whispered into his ear, "Thank you."

"Don't mention it; ever," Damon replied, not entirely minding their embrace.

As she pulled away from him, Jeremy approached her and asked, "Are you okay?"

Elena didn't know what to say to her brother. Their relationship was finally on the mend, and now, everything was different again. As she had with Bonnie, she offered her brother the same apology, "I'm sorry, Jer."

"Sorry for what?" Jeremy asked softly.

"I know this is…" Elena searched for the right words as Jeremy too knelt in front of her.

"It's alright, sis," Jeremy replied. He turned back to Anna as he continued with a smile, "I'm good right where I am." As he turned back to Elena, his smile flattened somewhat as he finished his thought, "But maybe before I'm thirty."

Anna chuckled slightly as Brother and sister shared a hug; finally, the wounds of their relationship were forgotten. As they pulled away from one another, Damon broke the ice the only way he knew how, "So Stefan…" His brother turned to him and he continued, "…we need to get rid of Katherine's body and we should probably do a better job than you did with Vicki."

Immediately Jeremy's expression flattened and he pushed Damon off balance as he quietly barked, "Dick."

Anna and Jeremy retreated back into the house and while Damon and Stefan spoke about disposing of Katherine's corpse, Elena's eyes locked with Jenna. Before she could say anything to her aunt -anything that might offer some sense to what she had just witnessed- Alaric got to his feet and made way over to her. He walked her into the house, carefully around Katherine's mangled corpse, though her eyes stayed with Elena until she had crossed the threshold. Elena stood from the deck and before following her aunt and Alaric, spoke with her friend, "Bonnie are you sure-"

"Either way, Elena; you died tonight. This is just the kind of death that lets me keep my best friend," Bonnie interrupted with a smile.

They shared a hug and Elena replied, "Thank you."

"Don't worry about it," Bonnie replied. As they pulled apart, Bonnie wrapped up their evening, "I'm going home." Just as it looked as though Elena may ask why, Bonnie finished her thought, "You've got a lot of damage control to do with your aunt." Elena nodded and as she walked off, Bonnie turned and called out, "Elena?" She turned back to her friend and Bonnie finished her thought, "Don't compel her to forget."

Elena smiled slightly as she replied, "I wouldn't even know how."

Bonnie smiled and headed off to her house while Elena stepped to the door. Unfortunately, as she came to the front door, her situation hit her like a ton of bricks; she wasn't welcome.

She couldn't help but laugh slightly as she felt around the threshold. She pressed her hands to it in amazement and called out, "Jenna?" She and Alaric turned to Elena and she continued, "You have to invite me in."

"What?" Jenna asked.

"Vampires…" There it was, the one word that only stood to further upset her, "…can't come in unless you invite them," Alaric explained.

As she struggled to process what was happening, Jonathan's death crept into her mind and immediately she felt guilt like she'd never known. As it hit her, she spoke her thoughts aloud, "That's how she got in." Her tears flowed once again as she spoke, "She came to the door the other night, I saw…" She put another piece together, "…it wasn't you kissing Damon; it was her." Elena nodded and Jenna broke down further, "It's my fault. I told her to come in the house. Because of me Jon-"

"You couldn't have known," Elena interrupted from the doorway.

"Why didn't anyone tell me any of this?" Jenna asked.

"Would you have believed any of it?" Elena asked. Stefan and Damon entered the house and nonchalantly picked up Katherine's mangled body. Jenna simply watched as they carried Katherine's corpse through to the backdoor without a word.

"This is a dream. This has to be a dream," Jenna quietly reassured herself. "That girl broke my neck…" Elena's eyes widened in horror of what had happened to her aunt, and Jenna continued to ramble, "…and here I am, alive and well." She turned to Alaric, again reaffirming, "This is a dream. I'm at your place, I was drinking and I must've passed out. Nothing happened, I'm just asleep."

As Alaric attempted to tend to her, Elena called from the front door, "Jenna-"

"She's in shock, Elena," Alaric interrupted.

Elena struggled to maintain her calm as she addressed her aunt, "Jenna, I don't even have words for how sorry I am that you got involved in this. None of us ever told you because we never wanted you in danger."

"I'm supposed to be the one keeping _you_ out of danger, Elena," Jenna replied.

Elena spoke with a soft but confident tone, "I know, but you know the stories just as well as I do. As long as we live in this place, we're going to be surrounded by things like this." Jenna's face still told of just how broken she was, but the slight shake she was suffering seemed to fade away. Finally, Elena asked, "Can I please come in?"

"How can I trust you, Elena?" Jenna asked a she observed her blood soaked niece. "An hour ago, a…" she caught herself and slowed down as she spoke, "…a vampire that looked just like you…" She paused as she struggled with the memories of what happened, "What she did to us, to me…"

Elena saw how difficult this would be and offered the only thing she knew might help, "Do you remember my 5th birthday?" Jenna's trembling slowed as Elena continued, "I ran into…" she pointed to the road just in front of their home, "…that street just when a car was coming." Jenna raised a hand to her lips as Elena spoke, "My parents were inside arguing because you were late, but when I ran out in front of that car, you were right on time." A few stray tears ran down Elena's cheeks as she finished her thought, "I'm different, Jenna; but I'm still me."

Jenna's tears overtook her. Even in the state she was in, she knew there was only one other person who knew that story. She pulled away from Alaric and stepped to the door, gaining composure with every step she took. Within inches of the door, she swallowed the lump in her throat and spoke to her niece, "Come in."

Elena's eyes followed her hands as they reached to where the threshold had been, only to find it gone. As her hands slipped across, she quietly commented in amazement, "Cool." Her eyes met Jenna's and finally she reached her arms around her aunt. They shared a tight hug and again Elena offered her an apology, "I'm so sorry."

Jenna's eyes closed. She was angry, furious, broken, in shock, hell; there weren't enough words to describe all of the emotions she felt. Still, as she held Elena, her absolution came without a second thought as she replied, "From here on out, no more secrets…" She pulled away from her and finished her thought, "…okay?"

"Deal," Elena replied.

Stefan came back through the rear door with Damon just behind him. At the sight of Jenna and Elena so close together, and Elena in the house, Stefan knew things would eventually get back to normal. He walked over to them, and to his astonishment, Jenna greeted him as best she could, "So you too?"

Stefan also was quick to offer an apology, "I'm sorry we never told you. This isn't the easiest thing to explain."

Alaric stepped alongside Jenna as she wiped her tears and replied, "I get it." Jenna took a deep breath, working so hard to keep herself calm, "So what now? Am I obsolete as your guardian?"

It would be days before all of the consequences of Elena's transformation sank in for everyone. However, without missing a beat, Elena replied with a light grin, "I've got some adjusting to do, but other than what I need to do, nothing needs to change between us."

Jenna wore her relief on her face and just as a calm had filled the Gilbert home, Damon came in and called to his brother, "Can you please do your kissing thing so we can get rid of Katherine's body?"

* * *

The following day, Elena, her family and her friends stood in the middle of a lush cemetery. A priest spoke a few last words as the few friends and family members Jonathan had, watched on as he rejoined the earth. As the coffin disappeared from view, Elena's tears poured down her cheeks. She wished she could have known him, could have changed his ways. Hope as she did, she knew Anna was right. He'd never accept Stefan, Damon, Anna, and now; not even his own daughter.

The crowd dispersed shortly after the brief ceremony, leaving Elena's family and friends last at the grave.

"You okay?" Stefan asked as he placed a kiss on Elena's forehead.

"Yeah," she replied with a smile. "I know it would have been for nothing, but I just wish he could have known you…" she caught herself, "…known us for what we are; not just what he was taught to believe."

"It's the way he was raised, Elena," Damon replied with a hint of compassion.

Alaric placed a hand on Jenna's shoulder and she quickly placed her hand atop his. All things considered, Jenna Sommers was acclimating to the revelations of the past few days rather well. As her fingers found Alaric's ring, she turned to him and asked, "So that ring is what kept me alive?"

"That's right," Alaric replied.

"Has it ever saved your life?" Jenna asked.

Alaric looked to Damon and replied, "Once."

As the group proceeded to the street, Jenna asked, "Where did you get it?"

Alaric swallowed the lump in his throat as he replied, "My wife, Isobel…" As Alaric spoke, Elena stopped in her tracks bringing Stefan to stop just beside her, "…she gave it to me."

As they continued, Stefan and Elena remained motionless and Stefan asked, "What's wrong?"

A single question resonated in her mind, so loudly she was surprised Stefan couldn't here her. Katherine had taunted her, asked her if she wanted to know why she looked just like her. Elena didn't want to know; she needed to. She pushed the thought aside knowing full well how Stefan would react and replied, "Nothing; just getting used to being able to hear everything."

Stefan smiled and leaned to give her a kiss. As he pulled away he replied, "You'll get used to it."

As Anna and Jeremy walked, Anna rested her head on Jeremy's shoulder and asked, "How're you doing?"

Jeremy sighed loudly as he replied, "My sister's a vampire, her boyfriend's a vampire, my girlfriend's a vampire-"

Anna pulled away from him and interrupted with a smile, "Seems like you and Damon are the odd ones out. There's a terrifying thought; you and Damon have something in common."

Jeremy smiled slightly as he replied, "Anna, you know-"

"Relax, Jer," Anna interrupted. "I'm still not going anywhere."

As they walked Jeremy asked, "So with Jon and Katherine gone, any idea what we might expect next?"

Anna again leaned her head on Jeremy's shoulder as she replied, "With any luck, a few of days of peace and quiet."

"Maybe not too quiet," Jeremy replied with a subtle grin.

As the group came out onto the street, Damon observed Elena saying her goodbyes to Bonnie from the back of the pack. He watched on as discreetly as possible, yet when they parted ways, his eyes followed Bonnie. As he caught up with the group, he turned to head off towards Bonnie's home, immediately garnering a concerned reaction from Stefan, "Damon?"

"You guys go ahead, I'll catch up later," Damon replied.

* * *

A few moments after Bonnie had entered her home, Damon stood at the front door. He felt ridiculous to the point of rolling his eyes, as he raised his hand just in front of his mouth to check his breath. "What am I doing?" He quietly muttered before knocking at the door.

The door swung open revealing a caught-off-guard Bonnie, "Damon. What are you doing here?"

Again he felt a bit silly; one might equate his jitters to those associated with asking someone out. His eyes avoided hers for a few seconds before he finally overpowered the ridiculous feelings, and replied every bit as directly as the Damon of old, "Would you like to have dinner with me?"

Bonnie's eyes widened and she flinched back a bit, "What?"

"Dinner," Damon replied simply. "Would you like to have it with me?"

"Why?" Bonnie asked with an inquisitive stare.

"Because I'm human now and I need to eat," Damon replied with a smile.

"Damon-"

He quickly interrupted her, "I'm not asking to share a bed with you…" Immediately Bonnie's expression flattened a bit as it so often had when dealing with Damon Salvatore's sarcastic charm, "…I'm just asking you to dinner."

"Why?" Bonnie asked again, looking decidedly less amused.

Damon swallowed his pride and spoke his thoughts, "Because yesterday, you woke me up from a one-hundred and fifty year nightmare." Again Bonnie's expression changed, she could immediately feel his sincerity. "I've got two lifetimes worth of things to make up for."

"Why me?"

"You made me human again, Bonnie. If there's anyone on this planet I should be thanking more, point them out," Damon replied. She'd only be lying to herself if she said his charms weren't completely irresistible. She smiled slightly, which brought Damon to return the gesture. There were no further words exchanged as she reached to the table beside the door to retrieve her purse.

She stepped out onto the porch and locked the door behind her. As she turned back to him, Damon offered her his arm. She looked at him as though he were crazy and immediately he defended his action, "Hey, when I come from, this was required when a man escorted a lady."

She rolled her eyes as she replied, "Oh what the hell." She slipped her arm into his and off they went.

* * *

As night fell on Mystic Falls, Jeremy and Anna lay beside each other in Jeremy's bed, their fingers intertwined as the simply stared at the ceiling. Anna turned slightly to Jeremy. As she turned back she asked, "What're you thinking?"

Jeremy smiled and turned to her, "You. How great you are. How good we are together."

"It could be this way forever, Jer," Anna replied.

Jeremy twisted towards her and her to him as they shared a delicate kiss. They pulled away from one another and Jeremy's fingers delicately ran along the side of her face as he replied, "And someday it will be, Anna."

Again they found each other's lips, savoring every moment of each other as though it were their last.

* * *

In Elena's room, Stefan and Elena stood, saying their goodbyes. He couldn't have been more proud of how well Elena was adjusting. She took on Stefan's diet of animal blood and with Damon being human once again; he would more than likely keep himself out of their feeding regimens.

They pulled away after a series of delicate kisses and Stefan asked, "Are you sure you're going to be alright by yourself tonight?"

Elena nodded confidently, "I'll manage."

"If you need anything, call me."

"I'll be alright, Stefan," Elena reaffirmed with a smile. "Don't worry."

Stefan replied with his last kiss for the night and walked to her bedroom door looking a bit upset. He wasn't overly thrilled with Elena being a vampire, though he had thought about it on several occasions. He too believed their relationship was special because they were different. Now that she was the same as him, he was a worried that the magic that made them what they were might be gone. However, before he could even open the door, a blur in Elena's shape intercepted him. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her lips to his as though she'd never see him again.

If Stefan Salvatore had breath, when Elena Gilbert pulled away from him, it would have been gone. At a loss for words, Elena simply smiled as she bid him farewell, "Goodnight, Stefan."

"Goodnight, Elena," Stefan replied, still in awe of that kiss.

As Stefan walked onto the street in front of Elena's home, her eyes followed him from her room. Watching him until she knew he was gone. She closed and locked her windows before throwing her jacket back on. She quickly descended the stairs and picked Jenna's keys from the table in the hall. From the living room, Jenna asked, "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

Elena looked to the keys she held and quietly replied, "I need to know, Jenna."

Jenna swallowed her fear and replied, her concern lacing her tone, "Please, be careful."

Elena nodded and headed out the door.

She drove for hours before finally reaching her destination; a small home in the middle of a long stretch of road. She quietly ascended the staircase and without a shred of fear knocked at the door. She could hear the home's inhabitant clear as day as they approached the door and as the door swung open; Elena greeted the woman before her, "Hello Isobel."

* * *

_And that, is that :) If you made it this far, I hope you enjoyed it :)_

_I know that where I've chosen to leave this fic is most unkind and I'm sorry about that, it was just too good a place to end it ;)_

_I really enjoyed working on this story, and I'm very glad so many of you enjoyed it :) __I sort of had no choice but to turn the focus from Anna/Jeremy to everyone, but I'm sort of glad I did. I got to play with all of the [main] characters this way, and even got to touch on the beginnings of a Damon/Bonnie pairing. __I apologize for not delving into what happened with Caroline, Matt and Tyler during the finale, but with everything I did with the group that features throughout this fic, there was no way I could touch on those events too. Simply too much for my small brain to handle I'm afraid :(_

_Again, a very big thank you to my reviewers for your kind words and confidence :) Without all of you, I never would have finished, so again; thank you :)_

_Till next time,_  
_-jm_


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